Taoiseach ‘shocked and appalled' as 10 people die in school shooting in Austria
TEN people are reported to have died in a school shooting in the Austrian city of Graz this morning.
The incident took place at Dreierschützengasse secondary school in the north-west of the city at around 10am local time.
'On the morning of June 10, 2025, there was a major police operation at a school in Graz on Dreierschützengasse,' the police force confirmed in a statement.
Policemen on scene following reports of a shooting at a school in Graz, southeastern Austria
'A large police presence is on site and the area surrounding the school is extensively secured,' they added.
'The situation is under control and investigations are ongoing.'
In a press conference this afternoon, Austrian Police confirmed the gunman was a 21-year-old Austrian man from the Graz area,
They further confirmed that he died by suicide in bathroom at the school.
Austria's Interior Minister Gerhard Karner added that there were nine victims, six females and three males, and 12 other people injured.
A three-day national mourning period has been confirmed across Austria with a nationwide minute's silence due to take place at 10am tomorrow morning (June 11) to remember the victims.
The Dreierschützengasse secondary school where several people died in a shooting this morning
Paying tribute this afternoon Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he was 'shocked and appalled' by the shooting.
'Such a horrific act of violence at a school is unconscionable,' he said.
'My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families, the entire school community and the people of Austria.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Austrian school shooter planned attack but motive still unclear, officials say
A man who killed nine students and a teacher at his former school in Austria and then took his own life planned the attack in detail, investigators have revealed. However, he appears to have shot his victims at random, and investigators have still not been able to ascertain his motive. A police officer guards the entrance of a school where a former student opened fire (Darko Bandic/AP) 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. People commemorate the victims of a shooting at a school (Darko Bandic/AP) 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'. Investigators have yet to ascertain a motive for the shooting (Darko Bandic/AP) 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. Austrian President Alexander van Der Bellen attends a wreath-laying ceremony after a former student opened fire, killing 10 people and injuring many others before taking his own life (Darko Bandic/AP) 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.
Irish Times
9 hours ago
- Irish Times
Ballymena riots: Leisure centre attacked, petrol bombs thrown in third night of violence
Petrol bombs, a hatchet and masonry were among items thrown at police during a third consecutive night of disorder in Ballymena . Officers responded with water cannon, dogs and plastic baton rounds in an attempt to disperse crowds in the Co Antrim town. Unrest spread to other towns on Wednesday, including Coleraine and Larne, 30 minutes away from Ballymena – where the leisure centre was set on fire by masked vandals who also smashed windows. The facility had temporarily been used as emergency shelter for those in urgent need following disturbances in Ballymena earlier in the week. READ MORE Larne Leisure Centre was targeted on Wednesday evening as a third night of unrest unfolds Several arrests have been made and dozens of police officers have been injured during the sustained unrest in Ballymena, which also saw multiple properties and vehicles set on fire. Communities Minister Gordon Lyons, who highlighted the use of the leisure centre in a social media post, said all those who had been staying at the leisure centre are in the care of the Housing Executive and have been moved out of Larne. SLDP MLA Matthew O'Toole, the leader of the opposition in the Northern Ireland Assembly, said he would refer Mr Lyons to the standards commission following the fire. Police officers on Clonavon Road in Ballymena following a second night of violence in Ballymena, during a protest over an alleged sexual assault in the Co Antrim town. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA Wire In the town, the PSNI deployed riot police for a third night in a row as hundreds gathered around the Clonavon Terrace area. At least one protester was struck by plastic baton rounds fired by police while officers also used a water cannon on the crowd. Officers also used dog units and drones in their response to the gathering. Riot police with shields advanced on the crowd to disperse them down Bridge Street onto other roadways. They came under sustained attack as those participating in disorder hurled petrol bombs, masonry and fireworks at police vehicles and officers standing nearby. Rioters smashed the windows of a house on North Street and set multiple fires on streets in the surrounding area. The disorder and stand-off with police continued past midnight. Elsewhere, social media footage appeared to show an established fire on train tracks running through Coleraine. Earlier, a senior officer said the PSNI had requested support from colleagues in the rest of the UK following further violence in Ballymena. The PSNI have also noted scenes of disorder in Belfast, Lisburn, Carrickfergus and Newtownabbey earlier in the week, as businesses, homes and cars were attacked and damaged. By Wednesday, six individuals had been arrested for public order offences, and one charged. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he 'utterly condemns' violence which left 32 police officers injured after the second night of disturbances. PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has warned the rioting 'risks undermining' the criminal justice process into an allegation of a sex attack on a teenage girl in Ballymena at the weekend. Stormont ministers have also made an urgent appeal for calm and said the justice process had to be allowed to take its course. First Minister Michelle O'Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly appeared together on Wednesday to voice their condemnation. Sinn Fein vice-president Ms O'Neill told reporters in Belfast: 'It's pure racism, there is no other way to dress it up.' Ms Little-Pengelly described the scenes in Ballymena as 'unacceptable thuggery'. With the protests focused in predominantly loyalist areas in Ballymena, Ms O'Neill said she did not believe it would be helpful for her to visit in the current context. DUP MLA Ms Little-Pengelly met residents in the town on Wednesday and said the local community are in fear and wanted the violence to stop. 'The key message here today is around that violence, and that the violence needs to stop, that's what the community wants to put across, and that's why I'm here to send that very clear and united message from right throughout the community and local residents for that to stop,' she said. The violence began around Clonavon Terrace on Monday night following an earlier peaceful protest which was organised in support of the family of a girl who was the victim of an alleged sexual assault in the area. Two teenage boys, who spoke to a court through a Romanian interpreter, have been charged. - Press Association
Irish Independent
13 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Graz school shooter sent video to his mother warning of plans to attack, but she saw it too late
The suspected school shooter who killed at least 11 in the Austrian city of Graz sent his mother a suicide video warning of his plans ahead of the attack. The woman alerted the police to the video 24 minutes after receiving it, by which point the Tuesday morning killing rampage had already started.
