VIENNA: One person has died and another has been seriously injured after shots were fired in the historic centre of the Austrian capital Vienna, an ambulance service spokesman told AFP.
Vienna police said that they had ruled out a terrorist background in the shooting that took place in the capital.
Police said a man fired several shots in the vicinity of a street called Lugeck in the city's first district at 1:30pm (1230 GMT).
It said that early indications pointed to a "targeted crime".
"Following the shooting in the city centre, there are intensive search operations going on throughout the city," police said in a tweet.
"There is no danger to bystanders at this time!," it added.
A police helicopter hovered over the city centre near where the two casualties were found.
Local media reported that several streets had been cordoned off and that police in bulletproof vests and helmets had been deployed.
One witness told the Kurier newspaper that the victims had been shot at in a passageway.
"There were two people lying on the ground, and the third guy was saying: 'Brother, brother!' in a Slavic language," the witness said.