Austria: Several killed in Graz school shooting – DW – 06/10/2025
The mayor of Graz said that 10 people were killed in a shooting incident at a high school, including the alleged perpetrator. Austrian police said the school was evacuated after they responded to reports of gun fire.
Multiple people have been killed in an attack at a high school in the southern Austrian city of Graz, authorities said.
Police said that there had been "several deaths" after an operation was launched following reports of gunshots in Dreierschützengasse street. The operation began at 10 a.m. local time (0800 UTC).
Police said in a later statement that the school had been succesfully evacuated.
"The situation is secure," police said. "No further danger is expected."
At least 10 killed in Austria school shooting
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
The suspected perpetrator's motive was initially unclear.
Police said that a helicopter had been deployed as part of the operation.
Graz has around 300,000 inhabitants and is the capital of Styria state.
What did Graz's mayor say about the shooting?
Graz mayor Elke Kahr said that ten people were killed in the shooting, including the suspected perpetrator, according to Austria's APA news agency. Among the dead were at least one adult and several children.
Media reported that the suspected shooter was thought to be have been a 22-year-old former student of the school.
Several people were also reportedly injured. The Kronen Zeitung daily said that number of injured in the attack was in the "double digits."
The ORF public broadcaster cited police as saying that both students and teachers were among the casualties.
Police said they believed that the shooter had acted alone.
Police said that several people had been killed in the shooting Image: Erwin Scheriau/APA/AFP
A 'national tragedy'
Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker extended his condolences to the victims and their loved ones in a post on X.
The school shooting in Graz "is a national tragedy that has shocked our whole country," Stocker said.
"There are no words for the pain and grief that we are all ... feeling."
President Alexander van der Bellen said that the attack had hit Austria "right in the heart."
"Austria is in mourning," he said. "And in this hour, we are standing together."
Meanwhile, the chancellor of neighboring Germany, Friedrich Merz, said Germans were mourning with Austrians.
"Horrific news from Graz. Our thoughts are with our Austrian friends and we mourn with them," he said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also expressed her condolences in an X post.
"My thoughts are with the victims, their families and friends," she said. "Schools are a symbol for youth, hope and the future. It is hard to bear when schools become places of death and violence."
EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said she was "deeply shocked by the news of the school shooting in Austria."
"Every child should feel safe at school and be able to learn free from fear and violence."
How strict are Austria's gun laws?
Austria has nearly 30 civilian firearms per 100 people, according to the Small Arms Survey research project.
The Alpine country has banned automatic weapons and pump action guns, while revolvers, pistols and semi-automatic weapons are allowed with a permit.
Rifles and shotguns are permitted with a firearms license, a valid hunting licence or for members of shooting clubs.
In 2020, four were killed and 22 injured in a shooting in the center of Vienna.
The attack was carried out by a sympathizer of the so-called Islamic State (IS) group.
Edited by: Kieran Burke
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
DW
3 hours ago
- DW
Northern Ireland leaders urge end to anti-Romanian riots – DW – 06/11/2025
Police and political leaders have denounced "racist thuggery" after violent riots in Northern Ireland. Attacks on the Romanian community follow the arrest of two teenagers over the attempted rape of a young girl. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer joined Northern Ireland's political leaders on Wednesday in condemning violence and racially motivated unrest that left police injured and multiple homes and businesses damaged. Tensions have flared in Northern Ireland following the arrest and court appearance of two teenage boys charged in connection with a serious sexual assault on a teenage girl in Ballymena. What do we know about the Northern Ireland unrest? Police have not disclosed the ethnicity of the two teenage boys who remain in custody, but some of Monday's attacks targeted areas where Romanian migrants reside. During a court appearance on Monday, the pair of 14-year-olds charged requested a Romanian interpreter, sparking unrest in areas with large migrant populations. The violence was centered in the town of Ballymena, about 48 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of Belfast, and other locations. The protest was sparked over an alleged sexual assault on a young girl Image: Niall Carson/PA/AP/picture alliance Six people were arrested following a second consecutive night of rioting on Tuesday. The unrest, which left 15 police officers injured on Monday and 17 more the next night, involved rioters hurling petrol bombs, fireworks, and bricks at homes and businesses. Four houses were damaged by fire, and rioters also smashed windows and doors at homes and businesses. Leaders condemn 'racially motivated violence' and 'mob rule' Ministers from all parties in Northern Ireland's power-sharing executive condemned the violence in a joint statement on Wednesday. "We strongly condemn the racially motivated violence witnessed in recent days and make an urgent appeal for calm across society," the ministers said. "There can never be any justification for the violence that has taken place in recent days," said the leaders. Residents had been "terrorised," they said, as they urged people to reject the "divisive agenda being pushed by a destructive minority." Traditional foes such as the republican Sinn Fein and pro-UK Democratic Unionist Party joined in the statement. In Northern Ireland, Belfast's murals tell a new story To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Prime Minister Starmer echoed the message, denouncing the incidents. "I utterly condemn the violence that we have seen overnight in Ballymena and in other parts of Northern Ireland," Starmer told parliament. He added it was "absolutely vital" that police could investigate "rather than face mindless attacks as they seek to bring peace and order to keep people safe." Meanwhile, Northern Ireland's Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said: "Hate-fuelled acts and mob rule do nothing but tear at the fabric of our society — they resolve nothing and serve no one." The violence comes amid rising political tensions over immigration in the UK and neighboring Republic of Ireland. Edited by: Zac Crellin
DW
11 hours ago
- DW
From Dunblane to Graz: Europe's deadliest school shootings – DW – 06/10/2025
Mass shootings at schools, universities and youth centers remain rare in Europe compared to the US. In recent decades, European governments have tightened gun laws in response to shootings. A school shooting in the Austrian city of Graz has left at least 10 people dead, marking the deadlist incident of its kind in the country in recent decades. The tragedy has shocked Austria, where firearm violence in educational settings is rare. According to public broadcaster ORF, there have been four recorded incidents involving firearms at Austrian schools since 1993. None, however, resulted in more than one fatality — excluding the perpetrator — until now. Similar incidents on school or college campuses have occurred elsewhere in Europe over the last few decades — several of which led to policy shifts. High-profile school shootings in Europe When a shooter killed 16 children, aged between five and six, in the Scottish town of Dunblane in 1996, the UK government swiftly banned private ownership of handguns. German lawmakers raised the age limit for gun ownership and mandated random spot checks on gun owners to ensure they were storing guns according to regulations after mass shootings in the 2000s. In 2002, expelled 19-year-old student Robert Steinhäuser opened fire at a school in Erfurt, killing 12 teachers, two students, a secretary and a policewoman, before killing himself. Then seven years later in the town of Winnenden, in southern Germany, a 17-year-old shot and killed 15 students, teachers and passers-by inside and near his former school. He was later killed in a shoot-out with police. In Serbia, authorities introduced spot checks at gun-owners' homes and launched an amnesty for unregistered firearms after a 13-year-old boy gunned down eight of his fellow pupils and a security guard at a primary school in the middle-class Belgrade district of Vracar in May 2023. The suspect was arrested soon after. And in December of the same year, a 24-year-old student killed 14 people at a university in Prague with a gun he legally owned. The gunman was killed at the scene, possibly by one of his own bullets. Czech lawmakers are now in the process of tightening firearms laws, according to reporting by the Associated Press. A massacre at a university in Prague shocked the Czech Republic in late 2023 and prompted nationwide reflection on gun laws Image:Far fewer school shootings than the US Massacres in schools or education settings remain rare in Europe compared to the United States. Though no direct comparison data on schools is available, research by the Rockefeller Institute of Government shows the US has suffered far more "public mass shootings" than countries with similar levels of economic development. Such incidents are defined by the New York-based think tank as involving "at least some victims who were targeted at random and/or for their symbolic value," excluding cases of state-sponsored violence or organized terrorism. According to their research, 109 such incidents were recorded in the US between 2000 and 2022, compared to six in France, five in Germany, three in Finland, and two in the UK, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland during the same period. "While there are a multitude of factors contributing to these attacks, studies find the higher rate of public mass shootings in America is associated, at least in part, with less restrictive firearm laws and higher rates of civilian firearm ownership relative to many other countries," criminologist Jason R. Silva wrote in a research blog for the institute last year. Gun ownership rates are far higher in the US than in Europe Image: Lynne Sladky/AP Images/picture alliance In the European Union, the bloc's central executive in Brussels sets minimum regulations on owning and using guns across its 27 member states, which include Austria and Germany. National governments can choose to beef up the baseline rules with tougher measures. Though rates vary across Europe, the number of guns remains substantially lower than in the US. According to the Small Arms Survey , there were an estimated 120.5 civilian firearms per 100 people in the US in 2017. That figure was 4.6 in England and Wales, and 19.6 in both France and Germany. The estimate for Austria was 30 per 100 people, while Serbia ranked highest in Europe at 39.1. Tributes were laid in 2024 after a 17-year-old stabbed three young girls to death at a dance class in the English town of Southport Image: James Speakman/PA Wire/picture alliance Deadly knife attacks also claim children's lives in Europe Though shootings remain rare in Europe, knife attacks at schools are more common. France has seen a spate of school stabbings in recent years, including a teaching assistant who was stabbed to death by a student in northeastern France on Monday. In October 2023, a man who was under surveillance for suspected Islamist radicalization stabbed a teacher to death at the school he previously attended in the Northern French town of Arras — according to reporting by Le Monde newspaper. And in a case which shocked France in 2020, an 18-year-old beheaded French teacher Samuel Paty outside his school near Paris. In the UK, riots took place in multiple cities across the country last year after false information spread online about a 17-year-old who stabbed three girls aged six to nine to death at a dance class in Southport. And in Germany, state prosecutors charged a 17-year-old with four counts of attempted murder after a knife attack at a high school in the city of Wuppertal in February. A knife-wielding attacker killed a seven-year-old child and injured several others at a primary school in the Croatian capital Zagreb last December, while a student and a teacher were stabbed to death at a secondary school in northern Slovakia in January of this year. Edited by: Jessie Wingard
DW
12 hours ago
- DW
Austria mourns in aftermath of deadly school shooting – DW – 06/11/2025
As Austria observed three days national mourning, investigators said they found a non-functional pipe bomb and a farewell letter at the shooter's house. Austrian police found a non-functional homemade bomb and a farewell letter at the home of a 21-year-old gunman who killed 10 people in a mass shooting at a high school in Graz before taking his own life, authorities said on Wednesday. About a dozen people were injured in the attack, some seriously. The suspect, armed with a shotgun and pistol, opened fire on Tuesday at BORG Dreierschützengasse school. He was a former student of the same school although he did not complete his studies, authorities said. People mourn, investigators look for motive A minute of silence was observed at 10 a.m. local time Wednesday for one of Austria's deadliest attacks post-World War II. According to Franz Ruf, the public security director at Austria's Interior Ministry, the shooter's letter bid farewell to his parents. "But no motive can be inferred from the farewell letter," Ruf said, adding that investigations are ongoing. The police are also looking into whether the victims were targeted or chosen at random. Austria is observing three days of national mourning with vigils being held in Graz, where locals lit candles and laid flowers in the city's main square in honor of the victims. Many lined up to donate blood for the survivors. Meanwhile, the shooter's use of legally owned firearms has sparked renewed debate over Austria's gun laws. Austria has nearly 30 civilian firearms per 100 people, according to the Small Arms Survey research project. The Alpine country has banned automatic weapons and pump action guns, while revolvers, pistols and semi-automatic weapons are allowed with a permit. Rifles and shotguns are permitted with a firearms license, a valid hunting licence or for members of shooting clubs. 10 dead in deadliest school shooting in Austria's history To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Edited by: Kieran Burke
