The ISIS teen who plotted a terror attack on a Taylor Swift concert has been pictured for the first time as neighbours say he completely changed his look recently.
The 19-year-old ISIS fanatic has been identified as Beran A., who lived in a newly-built end-terraced house in Ternitz, nearly 50 miles south of Vienna, where he spent his childhood.
A few years ago, Beran A.’s parents – who immigrated to Austria from North Macedonia – moved into a new-built house in the Neunkirchen district of Ternitz with him and his younger sister.
Ternitz residents told local media that he used to be a ‘harmless boy next door’ in jeans and sneakers, who was born in Austria and attended a local school.
But Beran A. had changed recently, according to his neighbours, coinciding with his pledge of allegiance to ISIS in early July. He grew a long beard and was often spotted wearing a long-sleeved cotton shirt, with a new picture of him showing him posing with huge zombie knives and an ISIS flag.
The 19-year-old was arrested in Ternitz, south of Vienna, Wednesday morning while a second teen, aged 17, was detained in the Austrian capital in the afternoon, according to director-general for public safety Franz Ruf.
Taylor Swift was due to perform in front of an estimated 170,000 fans on August 8, 9, and 10 at Vienna’s Ernst-Happel-Stadion, but the shows were cancelled last night.
Beran A. and his accomplice had planned to attack Swift’s concert venue by driving into the crowd outside at 4pm today before attacking them with knives and machetes and detonating a suicide bomb.
The 19-year-old ISIS fanatic has been identified as Beran A., who lived in a newly-built semi-terraced house in Ternitz, south of Vienna, where he spent his childhood
The 19-year-old man – who was living in his parents’ house (white house pictured right) along with another man – was arrested on Wednesday after police raided the home, according to Kronen Zeitung
Popstar Taylor Swift (pictured) was due to perform in front of an estimated 170,000 fans on August 8, 9, and 10 at Vienna’s Ernst-Happel-Stadion, which was set to be reinforced with more security measures before the three shows were cancelled last night
Fans of singer Taylor Swift – swifties – gather in Vienna, Austria, on August 8, 2024, after concerts of the star were cancelled at the last minute due to a terror threat
Resident Mara T. told Austrian outlet Kurier that she had last seen the terror suspect on Tuesday morning, adding: ‘He looked like how you would imagine a sleeper agent for a terrorist cell.’
Another neighbour, Nicole, said the family was ‘inconspicuous and quiet’ and that they didn’t cause any problems. She said that Beran A.’s mother speaks German ‘very well’, but that the father’s language skills were not as good.
Nicole said the family even helped her clear away debris thrown against her terraced house during a storm.
But not everyone had such a positive experience with the family, as neighbours Mara T. and Dieter S. reveal.
They said they got into arguments with Beran A.’s family when loading and unloading their car in front of their neighbour’s house.
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Until two weeks ago, Beran A. had worked in the same stainless steel plant in Ternitz as his father.
He was doing an apprenticeship as a retail salesman in the factory, where he had access to the plant’s laboratory, including various chemicals.
Behind the bright white walls of the family home in Ternitz, bomb disposal experts secured chemicals to produce the explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP), which Beran A. – who is said to be the mastermind behind the plot – is said to have already experimented with.
TATP is often used by ISIS in terror attacks and requires acetone as well as hydrogen peroxide, which officials confirmed was found in the house.
The head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence, Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, said Beran A. was ‘clearly radicalized in the direction of the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill infidels’.
Beran A.’s parents and sister are currently on holiday in North Macedonia, but police is expected to question the parents over their son upon their return.
Beran A. has been arrested alongside a 17-year-old. The suspects – who allegedly radicalised themselves online – took ‘concrete preparatory actions’ for an attack – with Beran A. ‘focused’ on Swift’s Vienna concert, Ruf confirmed.
Beran A. had quit his job and announced that he ‘still had big plans’ on July 25, Ruf revealed at a press conference today, adding that the teen also ‘significantly changed his appearance’ and that the 17-year-old had recently broken up with his girlfriend. ‘There has been a clear social change,’ Ruf added.
The 17-year-old regularly visited a Vienna mosque and carried ISIS stickers in his wallet when he was arrested on Wednesday afternoon, outlet Heute reports.
Austrian media reported the suspects’ plans included driving a car into groups of Swifties expected to gather outside the venue before attacking with machetes and knives. They had reportedly planned to launch their attack at 4pm today.
Behind the bright white walls of the family home in Ternitz (white house, second from left), bomb disposal experts secured chemicals to produce the explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP), which Beran A. is said to have already experimented with
A neighbour of the main suspect speaks to a Reuters journalist, following the cancellation of three Taylor Swift concerts at Happel stadium in Vienna after the government confirmed a planned attack at the venue, in Ternitz, Austria August 8
People stand outside Happel stadium after Taylor Swift’s three concerts this week were canceled after the government confirmed a planned attack at the stadium in Vienna, Austria, August 8
Beran A. fully confessed to his plans to ‘kill as many people as possible outside the concert venue’, Austrian security officials said.
His planned terror attack was supposed to end with him detonating his homemade bomb and killing himself in the process, according to the Austrian Heute newspaper.
Director-general for public safety Ruf confirmed today that ‘explosives were manufactured’ at the suspect’s home after local media reported that Beran A. had stolen chemicals from his former workplace, a metal processing company also in Ternitz, to build a bomb.
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Beran A. – who was living in his parents’ house along with another man – was arrested on Wednesday after police raided the home, according to Kronen Zeitung.
A bomb squad found chemical substances, fluids as well as ‘explosive devices and technical equipment’, Ruf said, after raiding the home and it is believed that the 19-year-old stole these from his workplace.
Ruf confirmed at a press conference today that the ‘preparatory action’ in the home in Ternitz focused on the manufacturing of explosives.
Among the substances was hydrogen peroxide, which Ruf said is used to create explosives and he confirmed that ‘explosives were manufactured’.
The suspects reportedly planned to ram a car into fans outside the stadium as it is well known that those who missed out on tickets will still come to the venue of Swift’s shows to listen from outside, like a week ago in Munich when 40,000 ticketless fans gathered on hills outside the Olympic Stadium.
Neither Beran A. nor the second suspect appeared to have a ticket to any of the shows and instead planned to focus the attack on fans standing outside the stadium.
Kurier also cited several sources who claimed the 17-year-old suspect had gotten jobs as security guards at the concert a few days ago, suggesting this could have facilitated the attack.
The newspaper also reported that the 17-year-old is said to be a major player in the gang war in Vienna, with police previously issuing a wanted notice for the boy.
Both suspects – who allegedly radicalised themselves online – took ‘preparatory actions’ for an attack – with the 19-year-old ‘focused’ on Swift’s Vienna concert at the Ernst Happel stadium (pictured above), general-director for public safety Franz Ruf confirmed
The 19-year-old suspect had quit his job and announced that he had ‘big plans’ on July 25, Ruf revealed at a press conference, adding that the teen also ‘changed his appearance’ and that the 17-year-old had recently split with his girlfriend
General view shows outside of Happel stadium, after Taylor Swift’s three concerts this week were canceled, after the government confirmed a planned attack at the stadium in Vienna, Austria, August 8
Swifties instead gathered in the centre of Vienna today after her three scheduled concerts in the Austrian city were cancelled
Beran A. intensely prepared for and ‘focused on his planned terror attack’ since quitting his job on July 25, according to Ruf.
He also had blank ammunition, €21,000 (£18,000) in counterfeit money and a blue police flashing light and siren he wanted to use to get to the venue undeterred, German tabloid Bild reports.
According to Austrian media reports, Beran A. and his accomplice wanted to launch the attack at 4pm today, when the outside of the stadium would have been packed with thousands of fans waiting to get inside as security guards were due to unlock the gates at this time.
Beran A.’s plan reportedly was to use the blue flashing police light and to disguise himself as a police officer to get as close to the stadium as possible before running over as many Swifties as he can, before attacking them with knives and machetes and detonating his suicide bomb.
During his interrogation, Beran A. gave a full confession, but reportedly showed no remorse for his terror plans.
The name of the second suspect, aged 17, has not yet been released. He is said to have Austrian nationality but Turkish and Croatian roots and reportedly was in ‘intense contact’ with Beran A. over the last few days.
While it has been reported that the second suspect would have likely been able to gain access to the venue due to his new job with the facilities company, it is unclear what horrors he wanted to unleash inside the stadium.
View of the Ernst Happel Stadium this morning after all three of American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift’s concerts were cancelled due to the risk of a terror attack
Taylor Swift has cancelled her three upcoming Vienna, Austria concerts after two suspects were arrested for allegedly plotting a terror attack on her shows – Swift is pictured performing in London in June
A 15-year-old Austrian with Turkish heritage has also been questioned after police found that he had communicated with both suspects.
Beran A. had uploaded an oath of allegiance to the current leader of the Islamic State group (ISIS) to an internet account in early July, police said.
A video of this pledge of allegiance as well as a video confessing responsibility for the attack has been seized by police.
Authorities also found Islamic State group and al-Qaida material at the home of the second suspect, a 17-year-old Austrian.
He was employed a few days ago by a company providing services at the venue for the concerts, and was arrested by special police forces near the stadium.
The 17-year-old reportedly denies the terror accusations against him.
Law enforcement sources told ABC News information about the threat to the shows originated with U.S. intelligence and was passed to the Austrians and Europol on July 25.
Ruf said: ‘The suspects were focused on the Taylor Swift concerts. We discovered that he was taking action to prepare for the attack. A clear threat has been averted.’
Officials said at a press conference that no other suspects are being sought after identifying the two teens aged 17 and 19.
Austria’s chancellor Karl Nehammer declared on X following news of the arrests: ‘Thanks to the intensive cooperation of our police and the newly established DSN (Directorate for Security and Intelligence) with foreign services, the threat was identified early on, combated, and a tragedy was prevented.’
Swift’s concert promoter confirmed the cancellation in a post, citing public safety
The shows are expected to be attended by 65,000 concertgoers per day, with an additional 30,000 fans outside of the area, police said – Swift pictured performing in Amsterdam in July
Commending the police and intelligence services for preventing a potential attack on the Swift concerts, Nehammer said: ‘We live in a time in which violent means are being used to attack our western way of life.
‘Islamist terrorism threatens security and freedom in many western countries. This is precisely why we will not give up our values such as freedom and democracy, but will defend them even more vehemently.
‘These values are the foundation of our society and make us resilient against extremism and terrorism. It is important to remain vigilant, stand together and take decisive action against Islamism.’
‘The situation was serious, the situation is serious,’ Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said at a press conference today.
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He added: ‘But we can also say that a tragedy could be prevented.’
‘The danger posed by Islamist extremism significantly increased in Europe following the devastating terror attack by Hamas on Israel. […] Austria was and is no exception here.
Karner said that the terror alert level in Austria had been raised to four since October 7, the second highest level.
‘Large concerts are a preferred target for Islamist assassins,’ he explained, referencing the attack in the Bataclan in Paris in 2015, the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester 2018 as well as the Moscow City Hall attack earlier this year.
British band Coldplay is due to play four shows in Vienna later this month from August 21 to August 25, but it is unclear whether these concerts will go ahead in light of the foiled terror attacks.
Swift’s concert promoter Barracuda Music posted a statement which read: ‘Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour Vienna Shows Cancelled Due to Government Officials Confirmation of Planned Terrorist Attack.
‘With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone’s safety.
Police vehicles and security teams are seen outside of the Ernst Happel stadium this morning
Austria’s chancellor Karl Nehammer declared on X that ‘a tragedy was prevented’ thanks to the police and security services
‘All tickets will be automatically refunded within the next 10 business days.’
Ruf initially said that there would be a special focus on entry checks and concertgoers should plan to arrive in plenty of time.
The shows were expected to be attended by 65,000 concertgoers per day, with an additional 30,000 fans outside of the area, police said.
Swift is expected to perform at London’s Wembley stadium in five concerts between August 15 and 20 to close the European leg of her record-setting Eras Tour.
Policing minister Diana Johnson said Scotland Yard will look at ‘all the intelligence’ ahead of Swift’s UK shows.