Gas gun gang caught

Two young Upper Austrians injured moped riders with a gas-powered gun, it has emerged.

The men, both aged 19, were tracked down but not arrested, officials in Steyr-Land district said yesterday (Mon). They face bodily harm charges. The duo reportedly admitted firing steel bullets at two people riding mopeds. The riders were slightly injured. Police confiscated four gas-powered weapons from the gang which consisted of the two offenders and four other pals aged between 16 and 19. The group of friends are suspected of defacing windows of houses with spray cans and shooting at parked cars with the guns. Local newspapers expect the police to ask the teens to come up for all damage.

Meanwhile, two residents of Vienna will be kept in custody for longer for injuring motorists, cyclists and pedestrians with a gas-powered revolver. The 20-year-olds were arrested last month. At least eighteen people were injured in the apparently motiveless attacks which happened across the city in August and September. The state prosecution said yesterday the men – who admitted being behind the series which caused a stir in the media speculating about a sick loner as perpetrator – will remain in preventive detention for another two weeks. The authority explained it feared the offenders could cause crimes again were they released. It is unclear when their trial will take place.