Austrian school shooter planned attack but motive still unclear, officials say
However, he appears to have shot his victims at random, and investigators have still not been able to ascertain his motive.
The 21-year-old had left the BORG Dreierschutzengasse high school in Graz three years previously, breaking off his studies after attending for three years, police say.
They said they knew of no personal connection between the gunman and the students he had shot, but that one of the two teachers he shot had once taught him.
Officials were still investigating whether that was a factor in the attack.
The incident prompted Austria to declare three days of national mourning and large numbers of candles have been laid in Graz's main square and outside the school.
The assailant, an Austrian man who lived with his mother near Graz and whom officials have declined to identify, used a Mercury double-barrelled shotgun and a Glock 19 handgun in the shooting.
Michael Lohnegger, the head of Styria province's criminal police office, said that he arrived at the school on Tuesday morning with a backpack containing the weapons, and put on equipment including shooting glasses and a headset in the bathroom before starting a roughly seven-minute shooting spree.
The gunman opened fire indiscriminately on the building's third floor before shooting open the locked door of a fourth-floor classroom and again firing indiscriminately, Mr Lohnegger told a news conference.
Mr Lohnegger said that the gunman had enough ammunition to continue shooting and it was unclear why he had not.
The gunman then returned to the bathroom and fatally shot himself in the head.
A search of his home uncovered a farewell letter and a video, which Mr Lohnegger said added up to 'an apology directed to his family for the crime and a general thank you', but offered 'no indication for the motive'.
Authorities also found a handwritten note that showed he had planned the attack 'down to the smallest detail', setting out how he would proceed but giving no date for the crime.
The note had suggested that he had lacked enough time to build a fully functional pipe bomb. Investigators had found one, but it would not have worked.
Mr Lohnegger said a picture had emerged of a 'very introverted person' who largely did not take part in real-world activities and that his great passion was playing online first-person shooter games.
'But even here, there is no information from his personal surroundings that he ever expressed any anger or resentment towards the school, students or teachers,' he added.
The man had no previous police record and 'there were definitely no particular problems with him at this school'.
The gunman was in unspecified vocational training at the time of the attack, investigators added.
He had bought the shotgun legally in Graz in early April and the handgun was bought from another shop in the city in late May.
He had a licence to own the weapons that required a report from a psychological expert, which was allegedly produced in March.
The gunman also took part in shooting practice five times in March at a shooting club in Graz using a hired firearm, Mr Lohnegger said.
Six girls and three boys aged between 14 and 17 and a teacher were killed in the attack.
Eleven people were wounded and authorities said that their lives were not in danger.
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Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Classroom killer's final photos: Cat-obsessed gunman posted photograph of his FEET inside school bathroom cubicle moments before killing ten - and also took pictures of weapons he used
The Austrian shooter who killed 10 people at his former school before turning the gun on himself earlier this week shared pictures of his preparation and the weapons he used in the assault to social media, it has emerged. Arthur A., a 21-year-old avid gamer and cat lover, launched his attack at the BORG Dreierschutzengasse high school in Graz, a city in the southern state of Styria, on Tuesday. The shooter shared an image of his own feet clad in black leather combat boots while sitting in a toilet cubicle on the third floor of the school. There he strapped on a gun belt with a hunting knife, shooting glasses and a headset, loaded his weapons and stormed into the hallways to carry out the massacre that was later confirmed as Austria's worst mass shooting. In two other posts, the young killer snapped a selfie and showed off a shotgun and a pistol he had bought along with the caption: 'Veeeeeerrry early birthday present for myself', according to Austrian media. He went on to use both weapons in the course of his rampage. The images of the killer were brought to light after it emerged the social recluse had sent his mother a farewell video moments before he carried out his attack, pleading for forgiveness for 'what I'm about to do now'. Investigators said his mother opened the video 24 minutes after receiving it and immediately notified police, but her son had already slaughtered 10 students and shot himself before armed cops descended on the scene. Arthur A. also requested that his cat be looked after following his demise and said that bullying at school had caused him to drop out early and led him to commit the heinous crime. The young killer showed off a shotgun and a pistol he had bought along with the caption: 'Veeeeeerrry early birthday present for myself'. Both were used in the shooting 'A farewell letter in analogue and digital form was found,' Franz Ruf, the public security director at Austria's interior ministry, told ORF public television following the shooting. 'He says goodbye to his parents. But no motive can be inferred from the farewell letter, and that is a matter for further investigations.' Asked whether the assailant had attacked victims randomly or targeted them specifically, Ruf said that is also under investigation and he didn't want to speculate. He said that wounded people were found on various levels of the school and, in one case, in front of the building. The student victims were aged between 14 and 17. A teacher was also killed. In new details, investigators said the gunman, who would have turned 22 in less than two weeks, had maintained contact with only one friend in the days leading up to the attack. Mayor of Karlsdorf, a small town near Graz where the killer lived, told reporters the evidence suggested that Arthur A. 'was a very inconspicuous young man'. 'It felt like he wasn't even noticed. Nobody really knew him. This is exactly the profile that we unfortunately see too often - silent, socially isolated recluses.' Austrian outlet Kronen Zeitung said the killer had an interest in the 1999 US Columbine school massacre in Colorado carried out by two teenage shooters and that he apparently used a photo of one of the pair on a profile linked to his online gaming pseudonym. Police are continuing to scour the shooter's electronic devices but said yesterday they had not discovered any video of the high school shooting on his mobile phone. Criminal police head Michael Lohnegger described the shooter as a 'very introverted person'. 'We discovered that his great passion was participating in so-called online first-person shooting games,' Lohnegger said, adding the killer had carefully planned the attack, according to a handwritten note found at his home. This note 'showed that the entire course of events had been planned by the perpetrator down to the most minute detail', Lohnegger said. Austrian media published photos that showed the killer being lauded for his exploits as a competitive gamer. Arthur A. was seen wearing a yellow and black team jersey at an Austrian gaming tournament called VulkanLAN2024 last year. He was also pictured clutching what appeared to be a winning plaque. People light candles on the main square in the city center after a deadly shooting at a school in Graz, Austria, Tuesday, June 10, 2025 Nine students were killed in Tuesday's attack - six girls and three boys aged between 14 and 17, one of whom had Polish citizenship - as well as a teacher, police said. Another 11 people were wounded before the attacker took his own life. A 15-year-old Kosovan girl named Lea Ilir Bajrami was the first of his victims to be pictured. Mourning the teen in a Facebook post, her heartbroken aunt wrote: 'Today, my niece Lea tragically lost her life in the attack in Graz. 'We pray for her soul and express our gratitude to all those who share our pain during these difficult times.' Her grandfather Muhabi Bajrami wrote on Facebook: 'With a broken heart and great pain, we inform family, friends and relatives that our granddaughter tragically lost her life in the attack that occurred in Graz, Austria. 'We pray for her soul and express our gratitude to all those who share our pain in these difficult moments.' Shots and screams rang out as the shooter stormed into his old classroom blasting a shotgun and a pistol. Terror-stricken pupils pretended to be dead as they cowered in corridors and two classrooms or ran for their lives. Chilling video captured the sound of shots followed by screams as the gunman picked off his victims. One student fleeing from the shooter called her mother during the attack saying: 'Mama, mama, I'm running for my life!' The mother described the situation to reporters as unbearable, saying: 'It was so terrible, you can't even imagine it.' Another student reportedly witnessed three classmates being shot. His father said: 'He was terrified and lay down on the floor so the shooter would think he was dead.' In the country's worst mass school shooting, terror-stricken pupils pretended to be dead as they cowered in corridors and two classrooms or ran for their lives. Pictured: Special forces descended on the high school shortly before 10am local time after reports of gunshots A 15-year-old Kosovan girl named Lea was the first victim to be pictured Pictured: Two female students cling on to each other as they escape the school building People embrace as they gather on the main square following a deadly school shooting in Graz, Austria, June 10, 2025 Family members reunite following the deadly school shooting in Graz, Austria The school's religious studies teacher Paul Nitsche told how he saw the gunman blasting out locks with a shotgun before entering and spraying staff and students with handgun bullets. 'It was hard to take in,' he said. 'This is something I had never even imagined before. That's what the situation was like as I was running down the stairwell - I thought to myself, this isn't real.' Another teacher, who asked not to be named, said: 'The whole community is in a state of shock. Schools should be places of safety and learning. 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Daily Mirror
15 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Austria school shooter posted twisted photo of himself minutes before massacre
Gunman Artur A showed himself in the toilet of Dreierschützengasse high school in Graz, dressed in black jump boots and black army style trousers - minutes before his deadly seven-minute attack The Austria school massacre gunman posted sick images of himself just minutes before he slaughtered nine pupils and a teacher. Artur A photographed himself in the toilet of Dreierschützengasse high school in Graz minutes before Tuesday's seven-minute attack. The image shows him, dressed in black jump boots and black army style trousers, hiding in a cubicle as he gets ready for his murder mission, taking an image from his lap. He posted the photo on X; he also left a video message for his mother, and a suicide note. It was published at 9.43am on Tuesday, just five minutes before he entered two classrooms to murder nine boys and girls, and one teacher. He also posted an image of his weapons, a Mercury double-barrelled shotgun and a Glock 19 handgun, with the sick message: "Veeeeerrry early birthday present for myself." His social media profiles also mention the Columbine school massacre in the US with an image of the killer and a message, again in English, stating: "They look like Monsters to you?" The posts emerged as police built up a profile of the killer, a loner who was obsessed with online gaming. They revealed that he had few friends and spent most of his free time playing Call of Duty or Valorant as an 'on-line shooter'. He had been obsessed with Columbine and other US school massacres. One of his followers posted the message 'my hero' beneath one reference to Columbine, which resulted in 14 deaths in 1999. It was carried out by gunmen, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who also took their own lives after the shooting. Artur posted images of the guns on the platform Tumblr days before the Fraz attack. He was due to turn 22 in a matter of weeks. He carried out the massacre in just seven minutes, police revealed. He shot through a classroom door after terrified pupils had barricaded themselves inside as he carried out his murder mission. The first police response team arrived within six minutes of the alarm being raised at 10am on Tuesday. Elite Cobra anti terror officers entered the building after 17 minutes. But it was too late. They found only bodies, horrified survivors and multiple casualties. Artur, who said he was bullied at the school, had been planning his rampage for months. He fired indiscriminately, killing the child of one of his neighbours in the bloodshed. He had made plans for a bomb attack found alongside a 'non functional' pipe device at his home. Artur A did not know the pupils he killed but one of the two teachers he shot had once taught him. He had also been to a local firing range in the weeks leading up to the attack and was armed with a Mercury double-barrelled shotgun and a Glock 19 handgun in the shooting. Michael Lohnegger, the head of Styria province's criminal police office, said that he had a backpack containing the weapons. He put on equipment including shooting glasses and a headset in the bathroom before starting the seven-minute shooting spree. He opened fire on the building's third floor before shooting open the locked door of a fourth-floor classroom. Once inside, he again fired indiscriminately. He had enough ammunition to continue shooting but instead went to a bathroom and fatally shot himself in the head. He left a farewell letter and video, "an apology for the crime and a thank you" to his mum, but offered "no motive". Authorities also found a handwritten note that showed he had planned the attack "down to the smallest detail". He set out what he was going to do, but gave no date for the planned attack. The note had suggested that he had lacked enough time to build a pipe bomb. Investigators had found one but it would not have detonated. Mr Lohnegger said a picture had emerged of a "very introverted person" who loved online shooting games but had limited contact with the outside world. "He never expressed any anger or resentment towards the school, students or teachers," he added. He had no previous police record and "there were definitely no particular problems with him at this school". The gunman was in unspecified "vocational training" at the time of the attack. He had bought the shotgun legally in Graz in early April and the handgun from another shop in the city in late May. He had a licence for the weapons that required a report from a psychological expert. He did shooting practice five times in March using a hired firearm at a shooting club in Graz. Six girls and three boys aged between 14 and 17 and a female teacher, 57, were killed in the attack. The 11 injured, aged between 15 and 26, are not in a critical condition. Artur, who has not been officially named, was born in Styria, the region which includes Graz, Austria's second biggest city. He lived with his single mum, who was also Austrian. His dad, of Armenian origin, had not lived with them since his parents' separation. Hundreds of people will be interviewed by police and the attack may be reconstructed. The quick response time on Tuesday "appeared to have saved lives". President Alexander van der Bellen suggested Austria's gun laws could be changed in the wake of the attack. "If we come to the conclusion that the gun law needs to be changed, then we will do so," he said. Relatives of the victims and school pupils are being cared for at a crisis intervention centre set up across the road from the school.
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
When it comes to reporting on mass killings, some in Europe take a different approach from Americans
When a 21-year-old former student opened fire inside his school in Austria's second-biggest city earlier this week, killing 10 people, it didn't take long for the Alpine country's press council to call on journalists to show restraint when reporting about the victims and their families. The appeal essentially reminded journalists covering the school shooting — the deadliest attack in Austria's post-war history -- to refrain from publishing names and other details about the victims. Police also didn't release any details about the victims other than their age, gender and nationality, in line with the country's strict privacy rules. Austria 's press council aims to uphold ethic standards during violent news events The press council, a voluntary self-regulatory body for Austrian media that aims to uphold ethical principles and standards of journalism, argues that journalistic restraint is needed during breaking news about attacks because the publication of the victims' personal details or pictures could cause additional trauma for the families. 'You should always think twice and three times about whether this could also be a burden," Alexander Warzilek, the managing director of the Austrian Press Council, told the Austria Press Agency, even as he acknowledged that 'there is a great need for information.' The Austrian Press Council also reminded reporters to adhere to its media code which specifically states that 'in the case of children, the protection of privacy must take precedence over news value.' Protection of victims and news consumers trumps media ratings In addition to protecting those affected by the tragedy, there's also concern about those who consume news about horrific events, especially children, says Claudia Paganini, an expert of media ethics at Austria's University of Innsbruck. In the school shooting Tuesday morning at the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school in Graz, nine students were killed — six girls and three boys aged between 14 and 17 — as well as a teacher, police said. Another 11 people were wounded — some of them also minors. The attacker killed himself in a bathroom of his former school. Paganini said consuming news about violent attacks can cause trauma and emotional overload for individuals as well as the brutalization of society in the long run. 'As opposed to the United States, where news are seen as a product and reporters are pushed to get all the details in order to raise the visibility of their news organization, journalism in northern Europe is seen as a service to society and to democracy that comes along with a lot of responsibility,' Paganini said. In the U.S., reporting on victims is a way to put a face on the tragedy In the United States, where news organizations have more experience dealing with mass shootings, reporting on victims is fairly standard and becomes an important vehicle to put a human face on the tragedy, said Josh Hoffner, director of U.S. news for The Associated Press. 'Many families are open to having those stories out there to celebrate the legacies of their loved ones and call attention to the failures that lead to shootings,' he said. Some news organizations make it a point to minimize the names of the alleged perpetrator of such crimes. There have been public campaigns to encourage journalists to focus on victims, survivors and heroes instead of the people who commit the crimes, said Amanda Crawford, a journalism professor at the University of Connecticut who is writing a book on media coverage of mass shootings. Whenever there is a mass shooting, a team at CNN is assigned right away to learn as much about the victims as possible, said Matthew Hilk, senior vice president for national news at CNN. They are important voices that help viewers understand the gravity of the situation, he said. Often, survivors and their families also become active politically in lobbying for gun control legislation or other measures to curb these crimes. 'We always approach victims and survivors, and people connected to victims and survivors, with extreme sensitivity and certainly never push anyone to discuss anything they don't want to discuss,' Hilk said. Reporters who break the press code are shunned by their colleagues Of course, not all reporters in Austria and elsewhere in Europe abide by the voluntary press code to stay away from victims. Those who break the code — especially those from tabloid newspapers — are often shunned by media colleagues. There's even a German term to describe reporters who ruthlessly try to interview those affected by tragedy. It's called 'Witwenschütteln,' or 'shaking widows,' which in journalistic jargon means pressurizing the families of victims until they give up quotes. Germany and Sweden also expect ethical responsibility from journalists The call for responsible reporting in the face of tragedy and the plea to withhold information that may interest readers isn't unique to Austria. Publishing intimate information about victims is also considered unethical in neighboring Germany. When a German co-pilot intentionally crashed a plane flying from Barcelona to Düsseldorf into the Alps ten years ago, killing all 150 people on board, the German Press Council received 430 complaints by readers and viewers who criticized the fact that the victims' and their families' rights to anonymity had been violated. The press council reprimanded several media outlets based on the complaints. That usually means that the reprimand must be published in the publication concerned. When 10 people were killed at an adult education center in Orebro in Sweden in February, in what is considered the Scandinavian country's worst mass shooting, the country's Professional Ethics Committee of the Union of Journalists, or YEN, specifically called out a reporter at Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet for interviewing a relative of the perpetrator after receiving several complaints about that report. The right to anonymity also applies to attackers The right to anonymity also applies to the perpetrator in Austria as well as Germany and Sweden. When asked at a press conference Thursday why police did not publish a picture or release the name of the 21-year-old Austrian perpetrator from Graz who committed suicide right after his shooting rampage, the head of the Styrian State Office of Criminal Investigation, Michael Lohnegger replied that 'we are not allowed to.' He added that 'if we publish photographs, it is for search purposes. There is no reason for a manhunt here. Therefore, as an investigating authority, we have no basis for publishing personal data or photographs." Lessons learned from the Nazi past In addition to the belief that the protection of those affected by a tragedy should be more important than the right to information, Paganini said there's also a historical reason for shying away from any abuse of journalistic powers. 'Especially Germans and Austrians still remember how irresponsibility and propaganda by the media during the Nazi times led to the brutalization of civil society,' she said.
