Shooter kills ten people at Austrian school
Authorities confirmed that six victims were female and three male, with twelve others suffering severe injuries. The situation was deemed "secure," and support was being provided to witnesses and those affected by the tragedy.
Shooter's background
The suspect, a 21-year-old Austrian from the Graz region, acted alone and took his own life in the school restroom. He used two legally owned weapons for the attack. Interior Minister Gerhard Karnert stated that the shooter was a former student but had not completed his studies.
National mourning
Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker declared three days of national mourning for the victims, describing the event as "an act of unimaginable violence." He emphasized the impact on children and the community, referring to it as a national tragedy.
International reactions
Condolences poured in from across Europe. Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top diplomat, expressed her shock and emphasized the right of every child to feel safe at school. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also extended their sympathies, highlighting the horror of the incident.
Context of violence in Austria
Attacks in public places are rare in Austria, which ranks among the safest countries globally. While school shootings are uncommon in Europe compared to the United States, recent years have seen a troubling trend of violence in educational settings throughout the continent.
Recent incidents in Europe
Other recent incidents include a knife attack in France, a stabbing in Slovakia, and multiple attacks in Croatia and the Czech Republic, reflecting a growing concern over safety in schools across Europe.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gulf Today
an hour ago
- Gulf Today
Killings at European schools concern authorities
A spate of school killings in Western Europe has raised pressure on authorities to tackle a problem long seen as a largely US phenomenon, increasing momentum for tougher gun and security laws and more policing of social media. While mass shootings remain far more common in the United States, four of the worst school shootings in Western Europe this century have occurred since 2023 and two — a massacre of 11 people in Austria and another in Sweden — were this year. This week's killings in the Austrian city of Graz sparked calls for tighter gun laws by political leaders, mirroring the response of the Swedish government after the 11 deaths at the Campus Risbergska school in Orebro in February, reported Reuters. 'Mass shootings, of which school shootings are a part, were overwhelmingly a US problem in the past, but the balance is shifting,' said Adam Lankford, a criminologist at the University of Alabama. 'The number in Europe and elsewhere is increasing.' Part of the rise stems from copycat attacks in Europe often inspired by notorious US rampages such as the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, according to shooters' own comments or their internet search histories, Lankford said. 'It's like an export from America. These attackers see other people do it and it has a snowball effect.' According to research by Lankford and Jason Silva, shootings carried out by people eager for notoriety were twice as numerous in the United States as in the rest of the world between 2005 and 2010. By 2017-2022, the rest of the world had caught up. Their data also shows that Europe accounts for a bigger share of mass shootings than it used to. It should be easier for European politicians to act against mass shootings than the United States, due to the central role of guns in American culture and identity, Lankford said. The European Union has left gun laws and regulation of social media up to member states. Recent killings have seen a drive by several countries to apply tougher rules. In Sweden, the government agreed to tighten the vetting process for people applying for gun licences and to clamp down on some semi-automatic weapons following the Orebro killings. Incidents of violence and threatening behaviour in junior high and high schools rose over 150% between 2003 and 2023, according to a report by Sweden's Work Environment Authority. In Finland, where a 12-year-old shot dead a fellow pupil and badly wounded two others in 2024, schools practice barricading doors and hiding from shooters. The government has also proposed stricter punishments for carrying guns in public, informed Reuters. Following a deadly December knife attack at a Zagreb primary school, Croatia's government tightened access to schools and mandated they must have security guards. Germany has gradually imposed tighter controls on gun ownership since school massacres in 2002 and 2009, and last year introduced a ban on switchblades and on carrying knives at public events following a series of knife attacks. Tightening gun ownership was the only way politicians could show they were taking the issue seriously, said Dirk Baier, a criminologist at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. 'There will certainly be resistance to this, from hunters, sport shooters, or other lobby groups,' he said. 'However, I think the arguments for tightening the laws will outweigh the arguments against.' Gun laws have also been a hot political topic in the Czech Republic since a student shot dead 14 people at the Charles University in Prague in December 2023, noticed Reuters. The country made it obligatory for gun sellers to report suspicious purchases and requires doctors to check whether people diagnosed with psychological problems hold gun permits. Britain is holding a public inquiry into an attack in Southport where three young girls were stabbed to death last year. UK drama 'Adolescence', a story about a schoolboy accused of murder, explores concerns about toxic online culture.
Al Etihad
a day ago
- Al Etihad
Austria plans tougher gun laws after mass shooting at school
14 June 2025 14:00 (REUTERS)The Austrian government plans to tighten national gun laws after enduring its worst school shooting, Chancellor Christian Stocker said in an interview broadcast on to ORF radio, Stocker said officials aimed to set stricter eligibility rules for possession and purchase of arms after a 21-year-old Austrian man on Tuesday shot dead ten people at a high school in the city of Graz before killing planned measures would look at things such as age requirements and how to treat certain weapons, Stocker said in an excerpt of an interview due to air later in the cabinet plans to agree the measures on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the chancellor's office proposals include enhancing psychological expertise in schools, increasing police presence there, improving data exchange between authorities and tightening restrictions for individuals deemed to be a risk, newspaper Kronen Zeitung spokesperson confirmed the details. Police described the shooter as an introvert and avid player of online shooting games who had largely withdrawn from the outside world before he planned the attack. Authorities have yet to establish what moved him to carry out the shooting.
Dubai Eye
3 days ago
- Dubai Eye
Austrian school shooter was fan of online shooting games
The 21-year-old man who carried out Austria's worst school shooting was an introverted fan of online shooting games, criminal investigators said on Thursday. The Austrian man, identified by local media as Arthur A., killed 10 people on Tuesday before shooting himself at his former high school in the southern city of Graz, sending shockwaves through Austria, which declared three days of national mourning. Police found discarded plans for a bomb attack and a non-functional pipe bomb during a search of his home after the shooting in Graz, capital of the state of Styria. Police are still trying to establish a motive, but Michael Lohnegger, head of Styria's criminal investigation office, said findings indicated the man was very introverted and that his great passion was online first-person shooting games. "He led an extremely withdrawn life, he didn't want to take part in activities in normal life outside in the real world, he preferred to withdraw into the virtual space," Lohnegger told reporters. Police said the rampage at the school lasted about seven minutes and that the man shot himself in a toilet about 10 minutes after beginning the attack. A few minutes earlier, the man entered the school with a rucksack, then went into a bathroom to prepare for his assault. He put on a weapon belt with a hunting knife, donned shooting glasses and a headset and armed himself with a Glock pistol and sawn-off shotgun, police said. He opened fire at random on people on the second and third floors of the school, shooting off the locks to the doors in one of the classrooms he attacked, according to Lohnegger. Most of the victims were apparently unknown to the shooter, but he did know one of the teachers who died, police said. PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION He acquired the guns legally in April and May after passing a psychological evaluation to obtain the necessary permit. Authorities said the suspect failed to complete his studies at the school. Local media reported the man, who lived with his mother on the outskirts of Graz, felt bullied at the school and wanted revenge. The police declined to confirm this. Neighbours and officials in the commuter town of Kalsdorf bei Graz, where he lived, described a withdrawn, slight man who usually wore a cap and headphones, covering himself up. Of over a dozen local residents spoken to about the shooter by Reuters, few wanted to talk at all. Some said they had seen him, but none said they knew him. Questions about the bullying allegations at the Dreierschutzengasse school the man attended were put to its deputy head, Norbert Urabl, on national broadcaster ORF. "Bullying is a very delicate topic. Bullying occurs on so many levels that it's very difficult to pinpoint the term bullying in this case," he said. "But the fact is that, if bullying can be triggered, then more sensitivity is urgently needed to recognise bullying processes earlier."
