Austria is in national mourning after a bloody shooting at a school in Graz, where a former student opened fire and killed ten people. NU.nl lists what we now know about the massacre in Graz.
The shooting incident took place just after 10:00 AM at a school in Graz, the second largest city in Austria. The 21-year-old shooter opened fire and killed nine people. A tenth victim died in the hospital from her injuries. In total, seven female and three male victims were killed.
In addition to the ten deaths, at least eleven people were injured. A number of them are still in critical condition. Most of the victims were students. Shortly after causing the massacre, the perpetrator also shot himself in a toilet.
More than three hundred police officers arrived on the scene in what is being called the largest shooting in Austrian history. The school has children aged fifteen and older.
It took seventeen minutes for the authorities to get the situation under control, a police spokesperson tells Der Standard. Immediately afterwards, the school was cordoned off.
The investigation into the shooter’s motive is still ongoing. It quickly became clear that he acted alone and that the danger had passed when he took his own life.
Salzburger Nachrichten suggests that the perpetrator was a victim of bullying, but authorities cannot yet confirm that. The newspaper also reports that the shooter bought the handgun online just a day before the shooting.
Shots heard in video from classroom at Austrian school
The Austrian Minister of the Interior has confirmed that the perpetrator was a former student of the school where he caused the massacre. He carried a handgun and a larger weapon – probably a hunting rifle – with him. According to the police, he legally possessed those weapons.
The perpetrator was not known to the police. He came from the Graz area.
Kronen Zeitung reports that the police found a farewell letter in the shooter’s home. The newspaper does not report what that letter said.
The Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker speaks of a “national tragedy that has shaken our entire country.” He calls it a “dark day in the history of our country.”
“There are no words to describe the pain and grief we feel.” Stocker traveled to Graz to attend a press conference by the local authorities.
The Chancellor has also declared three days of national mourning. On Wednesday morning at 10:00 AM, the country will observe a minute of silence. The flag was flown at half-mast on a number of Austrian buildings. Below you see the Austrian Parliament building in Vienna.
A number of major Austrian political parties, including the FPÖ and the ÖVP, had a party conference scheduled for this week. These are being canceled. A number of sporting events and cultural events are also being canceled.
Die Presse reports that the World Cup qualifying match between Austria and San Marino in Italy will still take place on Tuesday evening. The Austrian football players will wear a mourning band and a minute of silence will be held beforehand.
The Red Cross is calling on Austrians to donate blood for the victims. Hundreds of people have already responded, reports Kronen Zeitung. Football club Sturm Graz is also calling on its fans to donate blood.
The Red Cross is providing aftercare to two hundred family members of victims and three hundred students who witnessed the massacre.
Several leaders of other countries are expressing their condolences to Austria. Outgoing Prime Minister Dick Schoof has expressed his condolences to Chancellor Stocker. “My thoughts are with the relatives,” said Schoof at a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Austria is known as one of the most heavily armed countries in Europe, reports news agency Reuters. There are approximately thirty firearms per hundred inhabitants.
Large shootings do not often take place in the Alpine country. The last time was in 2020, when four people were killed in a jihadist attack in the capital Vienna. In 1997, a 36-year-old man killed six people in the village of Mauterndorf.