An employee of an Austrian refugee shelter died of knife injuries on Friday, four days after an Afghan asylum seeker allegedly attacked him and stabbed another man to death.
The case has triggered demands by right-wing politicians to quickly expel asylum seekers who have had run-ins with authorities, as the suspect, in this case, had been previously accused of violent behaviour.
The 33-year-old man has been remanded in custody and is being investigated on suspicion of carrying out the double murder, the police department of Upper Austria province said in a statement.
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On Monday, he got into an argument with a 32-year-old employee at the shelter in the Upper Austrian town of Wullowitz and stabbed the employee in the chest, according to police investigators.
The argument was about finding a job for the asylum seeker, who was apparently angry that he was being told that he could not choose his working hours freely, police said.
After fleeing the scene, the suspect stabbed an elderly farmer and stole his car as a getaway vehicle, according to Friday’s police statement.
While the farmer died on the spot, the refugee shelter worker was flown to a hospital and underwent emergency surgery.
The Afghan man, who is known as a devout Muslim, had previously brawled with a fellow Muslim over the question of drinking alcohol.
He had also made headlines in June for failing his driving test because of rally-style driving. Nigeria News