The Turkish businessman who saved the Austrian police became a hero

The Vienna Police Department presented a certificate of appreciation to Güven Dağ, who rescued two policewomen from the attacker in December 2022 in Austria.

Dağ told how the incident happened and the congratulations and thanks he received from the Austrian police.

Güven Dağ, a 32-year-old businessman born and raised in Vienna, stated that the incident occurred late last year and said that he saw the attacker wearing a mask, military camouflage and holding a weapon-like object when seen from a distance. , on the way home from the ring road of the capital.

Dağ said that the masked attacker attacked passers-by with an object in hand on the 4-lane ring road, damaged cars, and informed the police by calling the police, which the police told him that “the complaint about the suspect they were sent, that the person is dangerous, has a weapon in his hand and should stay away from the place,” he transmitted.

Immediately afterwards, Güven noticed that he parked his vehicle and went to the place where the person was, and that the policemen had arrived at the place, as soon as the suspect saw the policemen, he began to walk towards them, he told the policemen that he could come with them, and the officer said, “Stand close to him,” and then they went to the suspect. He told me that they were walking.

Dağ said, “I understood from the way the man was walking, that he is not a normal person. Unfortunately, since we experienced a similar situation (terrorist attack on November 2, 2020), two of our Turkish friends acted heroically there. The person walked directly towards the officer and suddenly hit him so hard that he struck the officer in the face with his left hand. He (the policeman also with the force of his fist) hit his head on the ground. He really wasn’t a pretty sight at all. As soon as he fell, I jumped on him (the attacker),” he said.

Noting that the female officer, who was hit by the attacker, fell down and hit her head hard on the ground and lost consciousness for a short time, Dağ said, “Meanwhile, the second female police officer was trying to organize reinforcement. I took one look (at the police officer and the attacker) and was torn between the two. The assailant was threatening me, but I couldn’t handle the policeman who fell to the ground at that moment, because if I let go of the assailant, he might try to take the policeman’s weapon away. Thank God it didn’t go that far. While he was wrestling with the person, someone jumped on us. I saw that the police officer Mariella, who had fallen to the ground, jumped on both of us. I said, ‘I’m not the attacker.’

THANK YOU AUTHORITIES

Dağ said that the case about the incident was heard, that he learned that the attacker had schizophrenia, and that the judge, prosecutor and other policemen thanked him in court.
Noting that they were very impressed by the civil courage and help of the police officers, Dağ said that he thanked the policemen who ensured the peace of the society.

Dağ said: “I told Mariella and Katherina (two policewomen): ‘You acted to guarantee the peace of the community. I told him: ‘If there is a hero, it is you, because you risk your own life and you never stopped, you stepped on the man as soon as you saw him. I said, ‘I was even behind you.’ I said,” he said.

Noting that his act was not heroic, Dağ said: “We live here, Vienna is our city, I think it was a humanitarian duty. I jumped on the assailant to avoid further damage to the police officer. I don’t see myself as a hero, but if I have made our citizens who live here proud with my action, I am also very happy.”

Dag said that after pictures presenting the certificate of appreciation spread quickly on social media, Turkey’s ambassador to Vienna, Ozan Ceyhun, called him and congratulated him.

Dağ said that it was not very important to him if this situation was covered in the Austrian press and that the policemen showed a lot of interest and concern, in addition to the recognition certificate.

“If they report this, maybe they will motivate the community,” Dağ added that the images taken by the police while they handed him the certificate of appreciation are the second most viewed image on the security forces’ social media account.

Pictures of Christian Sandner, one of the commissioners of the capital’s 18th district, presenting a certificate of appreciation to Dağ, were shared on the official social media account of the Vienna Police Department.

Commissioner Sandner presented him with a certificate of appreciation, on behalf of the Vienna police chief, for Dağ’s support of police forces in the apprehension of a criminal.
In a statement written on his social media account, he said: “We police officers are human beings too and we want to return to our home, family, children and relatives after work in a healthy way. We too are human and may need help, especially in times of danger. Güven Dağ showed much more than civil courage last year. (AA)