School dropout shoots nine dead in Austria
At least nine people were shot dead at a secondary school in the Austrian city of Graz by a former pupil.
Several students and at least one adult were among those killed in the country's worst school shooting in living memory.
The suspect was a 21-year-old man who had attended the school but had not graduated. He shot himself in the school toilets after the attack.
Christian Stocker, Austria's chancellor said the shooting at BORG Dreierschützengasse high school marked a 'dark day in the history of the country'.
Credit: AUF1
The victims included six females and four males, police said, but did not disclose their identities. A dozen more people were injured, several seriously.
Local media reports suggested the suspect had been a victim of bullying when he attended the school.
Gerhard Karner, the interior minister, said investigations into the suspect's background were ongoing, but did not comment on his identity or motives. The suspect used two guns, a shotgun and a handgun – both obtained legally – in the attack.
At around 10am local time (9am BST), rounds of loud gunshots followed by screams were heard coming from the school, and the alarm began sounding.
Credit: X / @d3miniic
Dozens of police cars and ambulances were filmed racing to the scene, half a mile from the historic centre of Graz, as a police helicopter circled above.
Officers, supported by Austria's elite 'Cobra' unit, combed through the school, evacuating the wounded and students and teachers who had barricaded themselves in classrooms.
The wounded were taken to several hospitals in the area, and a mass casualty event was declared. At around midday, police announced that the school had been secured and the danger was over.
'This is a national tragedy that has hit us deeply,' said Mr Stocker. Declaring three days of national mourning, he said schools 'must remain places of peace'.
Alexander Van der Bellen, Austria's president, said: 'This horror cannot be captured in words. These were young people who had their whole lives ahead of them, a teacher who accompanied them on their way.'
Mark Nolden, 22, a student who lives near the school and knows some of the students, described the shooting as a 'huge shock' for the community.
He told Kronen Zeitung, Austria's biggest newspaper: 'It's a situation like something out of a movie, above all the uncertainty.'
Local media, citing unconfirmed witness reports, said the suspect was carrying a pistol and a shotgun and was found dead inside the school toilets. The Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper reported that he had purchased one of the guns only days ago.
Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said: 'Schools are symbols of youth, hope and the future. It is difficult to bear when schools become places of death and violence.'
Sir Keir Starmer's 'thoughts are with everyone affected and the people of Austria', the Prime Minister's official spokesman said.
Despite Austria having one of the most heavily armed civilian populations in Europe – with an estimated 30 firearms per 100 persons – school shootings are uncommon. The country had only two mass shootings between 2000 and 2022.
Machine guns and pump-action guns are banned, while shotguns, revolvers, pistols and semi-automatic weapons are allowed with official authorisation or a firearms licence.
Four people were killed and 22 injured when a convicted jihadist went on a shooting spree in the centre of Vienna in 2020.
The school shooting in Graz happened almost 10 years to the day after a driver deliberately rammed his car into people in the city centre before stabbing others. Alen Rizvanović, a Bosnian refugee, killed three people and injured more than 30.
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