‘Former pupil' kills nine people at Austrian school

News24

5 days ago

A tragic school shooting occurred in Graz, Austria, leaving 10 dead, including students, an adult, and the lone shooter, whose motive remains unknown.
Austria's leadership and European figures expressed condolences as the nation grapples with this rare act of violence in one of the world's safest countries.
School violence cases are infrequent in Europe but have been on the rise, with similar recent attacks in Slovakia, Croatia, and Serbia stirring concerns.
An attack on a school in southeastern Austria reportedly by a former pupil has left several people dead, police said Tuesday, in a rare case of deadly gun violence in a European school.
Heavily armed police, a helicopter and paramedics descended upon the school in Graz, where 10 people including the alleged lone shooter were killed and "several severely injured", regional police said on X.
"The identities of those affected are currently being established," police said, adding the situation as "secure" and support was being provided to witnesses and those affected.
Graz Mayor Elke Kahr told Austrian press agency APA that 10 people including several pupils and one adult were killed.
The alleged shooter acted alone, police said, and his motive is unknown.
Austrian media reported the suspect is believed to be a 22-year-old former pupil who also took his own life.
Police and interior ministry officials could not immediately be reached by AFP.
"The situation is very unclear at the moment," police sources told Austria's APA news agency.
Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker and Interior Minister Gerhard Karner are expected to hold a press conference at 13:00.
"It's a disaster, simply terrible. After all, it's about children," Hasan Darsel, a restaurant owner in the area, told the newspaper Kronen Zeitung.
'Deeply shocked'
Condolences poured in from across Europe.
EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas declared herself "deeply shocked" Tuesday by reports of the shooting.
"Every child should feel safe at school and be able to learn free from fear and violence," Kallas posted on X.
"My thoughts are with the victims, their families and the Austrian people in this dark moment."
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said "the news from Graz touches my heart."
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her sympathies to the families of the victims following the "tragic news".
Attacks in public are rare in Austria, an Alpine nation of almost 9.2 million people, which ranks among the 10 safest countries in the world, according to the Global Peace Index.
School shootings are also much more uncommon in Europe than in the United States but in recent years Europe has been shaken by attacks at schools and universities, that were not connected to terrorism.
In France on Tuesday, a teaching assistant was killed at a school in Nogent in the east following a knife attack.
In January 2025, an 18-year-old man fatally stabbed a high school student and a teacher at a school in northeastern Slovakia.
In December 2024, a 19-year-old man stabbed a seven-year-old student to death and injured several others at a primary school in Zagreb, Croatia.
In December 2023, an attack by a student at a university in central Prague left 14 people dead and 25 injured.
A few months earlier that year, a 13-year-old gunned down eight fellow classmates and a security guard at an elementary school in downtown Belgrade. Six children and a teacher were also injured. The shooter contacted the police, who arrested him.
In 2009, nine pupils, three teachers and three passers-by were killed in a school shooting at Winnenden in southern Germany by a former pupil who then killed himself.