Hit perpetrator with car

Hero of Villach: “We Syrians are not like that!”

This is the hero that the whole of Austria is talking about right now: Alaaeddin Alhalabi(Bild: zVg, Krone KREATIV)

His intervention probably prevented worse: Alaaeddin Alhalabi (42) actually just wanted to deliver food and ended up in the middle of a rampage! Without further ado, he ran down the perpetrator with his car. The "Krone" spoke to the hero.

"I was just about to pick up an order in Lederergasse when I saw all the blood and two injured people lying on the ground," the 42-year-old Syrian recalls the dramatic seconds. Without thinking - unaware that he would probably save the lives of some Villach residents - he ran down the man armed with a knife.

 "It threw him a few meters away, then he remained lying on the ground," says Alhalabi. "He wanted to head towards the city center, there were children on the street - I couldn't let that happen," he says in the "Krone" interview. He is also deeply shocked: "If I had been quicker, the 14-year-old might not have died ..."

The bloody crime in Villach claimed one life.(Bild: DOKU-NÖ)

The crime scene was cordoned off.(Bild: zVg)

"Passers-by hit my car - they thought I was the bad guy"
In the chaos of the situation, passers-by hit the delivery car, as the courageous family man recounts: "They thought I was the bad guy!" But in reality, Alhalabi prevented even worse.

"I have children of my own, we all cried because the 14-year-old died!" says the Syrian, who lives in Villach. Alhalabi condemns his compatriot: "We're not like that! I've been living here for years, well integrated, and so have many others. I hope people don't compare us with the perpetrator!" He just wants to live here in peace. He doesn't see himself as a hero: "Anyone would have reacted like that!"