Former pupil kills nine, then himself in shooting at Austrian school
A tragic school shooting in Graz, Austria, has left the nation in mourning after a former pupil killed nine people and himself. The 21-year-old shooter, armed with two guns, opened fire in the school, injuring twelve others. Authorities are investigating the motive behind the attack, which has been declared a national tragedy, prompting three days of mourning.
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
A former pupil killed nine people and then himself at a secondary school in the southern Austrian city of Graz on Tuesday in the worst school shooting in the country's modern history.Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said six of the victims were male and three were female, and that 12 people were also injured. He gave no further details to identify the victims but Austrian media said most were pupils.The motive for an attack that shocked the nation was not yet known. But police said they assumed the 21-year-old Austrian shooter, who was found dead in a bathroom, was operating alone when he entered the school with two guns and opened fire."The rampage at a school in Graz is a national tragedy that has deeply shaken our entire country," Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said, calling it a "dark day in the history of our country"."There are no words for the pain and grief that we all - all of Austria - are feeling right now."Stocker travelled to Graz where, at a press conference alongside other officials including Karner, he announced three days of national mourning, with a minute's silence to be held at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) on Wednesday.At the scene, police had set up a perimeter a few hundred meters away from the school, barring access routes with police cars after evacuating the school. Relatives of the victims and pupils were being cared for.The Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper said in an unconfirmed report that the suspect had been a victim of bullying.Armed with a pistol and shotgun, he opened fire on pupils in two classrooms, one of which had once been his own, it said.'DARK HOUR'Police were called to the scene at around 10 a.m. after shots were heard at the school. Police and ambulances were on the scene in minutes."It is not yet possible to provide any information about the motive. Extensive criminal investigations are still required," a police spokesperson said.Julia Ebner, an extremism expert at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue think-tank, said the incident appeared to be the worst school shooting in Austria's post-war history, describing such shootings as rare compared to some countries including the United States."I am deeply shaken that young people were torn from their lives so abruptly," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, one of a number of foreign leaders who expressed shock at the shooting, said in a message to Stocker. "We hope that their loved ones can find comfort in the company of their families and friends in this dark hour."Austria has one of the most heavily armed civilian populations in Europe, with an estimated 30 firearms per 100 persons, according to the Small Arms Survey, an independent research project.Four people were killed and 22 injured when a convicted jihadist went on a shooting spree in the centre of Vienna in 2020. In November 1997, a 36-year-old mechanic shot dead six people in the town of Mauterndorf before killing himself.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Deccan Herald
2 hours ago
- Deccan Herald
India-EU Free Trade Agreement feasible by end of 2025: Jaishankar
During a conversation with The Financial Times Brussels Bureau Chief Henry Foy at the German Marshall Fund (GMF) Forum, the external affairs minister expressed confidence that the year-end timeline set for the completion of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) seems 'feasible' following his in-depth talks with EU officials this week.
NDTV
2 hours ago
- NDTV
Pakistan, Troubled By Thoughts Of A Deterrent For BrahMos, Looks Beyond China
New Delhi: Ever since India's precision strikes first destroyed its terror infrastructure and later its air bases and military installations during Operation Sindoor, one question has kept Pakistan worried and puzzled at the same time - How to defend itself against India's BrahMos missile? Though India has not officially stated the use of the BrahMos during Op Sindoor, Pakistan's prime minister Shehbaz Sharif had publicly admitted to its airbases being hit by the supersonic cruise missile. LOOKING BEYOND CHINA Disappointed with the Chinese air defence systems - HQ-9 and HQ-16 - which failed to stop India's drone and missile strikes, and was totally ineffective against the BrahMos, as claimed by Pakistan itself, Islamabad is now looking beyond China to find a worthwhile solution. Pakistan is reportedly exploring a possibility of acquiring a German-made advanced air defence system which has proven to be effective in Ukraine against a Russian cruise missile similar to that of the Brahmos. GERMAN ENGINEERING Last month Ukraine claimed that the recently-inducted German air defence system - IRIS-T SLM - had successfully shot down 60 incoming missiles over the last one year. Developed by Germany's Diehl Defence, the air defence system performed well against the Russian P-800 Oniks missile, considered somewhat similar to India's BrahMos. IRIS-T SLM, which stands for Infrared Imaging System - Tail/Thrust Vector Controlled - Surface-Launched Missile, is a medium-range air defence system. First developed in 1990, the system has been upgraded several times. It includes a radar, an operation centre, and multiple launchers. According to news agency Reuters, in 2023, Germany purchased six IRIS-T air defence systems for its air force at a total cost of some 900 million euros ($971.73 million). It has a range of approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) and a 360 degree view. INDO-GERMAN DEFENCE TIES According to a report in the Economic Times, Pakistan's plans skip Chinese air defence systems and instead purchase them from Germany, comes at a time when the company that manufactures the IRIS-T - Diehl Defence - has partnered with Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, that is engaged in defence projects in India. Together, Diehl and Thyssenkrupp are working to supply Interactive Defence and Attack Systems or IDAS for six Indian Navy submarines being made in India under the Rs. 70,000 crore Project 75I. Moreover, as per the Economic Times, India's Reliance Defence, a subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure, has entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with Diehl Defence. Together they will manufacture the precision-guided munition system Vulcano 155mm - and advanced, long-range artillery shell, in India. This might make it difficult for Pakistan to deal with the German firm. MISPLACED PRIORITIES? Despite its economy tanking and nearly 45 per cent of its citizens now below the poverty line and 16 per cent living in extreme poverty, Pakistan, in its annual budget today upped its defence spending significantly while lowering spending on nearly everything else. However, in the last month alone, cash-strapped Pakistan has managed to secure a billion-dollar loan from the IMF and another $800 million from the Asian Development Bank or ADB. Additionally, Pakistan's budget saw a whopping 20 per cent hike in defence spending, while the overall expenditure has been slashed by 7 per cent. Some reports suggest that Pakistan's government has scrapped development projects worth nearly 1,000 billion Pakistani Rupees.
NDTV
2 hours ago
- NDTV
'This Isn't real': Teacher's Narrow Escape From Austria School Shooter
A teacher told AFP on Wednesday how he found himself in a corridor with the shooter who killed 10 people in an Austrian school as he fled his empty classroom. Religion teacher Paul G Nitsche was working on his own with the door open on the upper floor of the Dreierschuetzengasse secondary school in Graz when the shooting started. "I heard this bang. And I blocked it out," the 51-year-old told reporters, whose students were elsewhere sitting their final year exams. It was only when he heard the sound of bullet casings hitting the floor of a corridor outside, that "something snapped inside me" and the realisation dawned, he said. "I jumped up and thought, that as a teacher alone in a classroom with a possible attacker, this is a very bad situation. "And I decided to run. "I ran out quickly through the corridor, which is only a few metres long, and then down the stairs." It was then that the evangelical pastor saw the shooter in the corridor of the floor below. The sight of him stopped him in his tracks "for a moment". 'You Try To Block Everything Out' "He was trying to shoot the door (of a classroom) open with his rifle. "He was busy.... and I didn't look around much either... I didn't hang around," Nitsche said. "And as I ran down the stairs, I thought to myself, 'This isn't real, this is a film.'" But when he got to the lower floor "I saw a student lying on the floor and a teacher was there, and I knew, 'Ah, this is serious.'" "As a human being, you really try (to understand what is happening), I know that from my crisis training, but (at the same time) you really try to block everything out," the pastor added. "I think the emergency services were there a minute or two later, thank God." What struck Nitsche was the eerie silence that had fallen over the school. "It was very quiet. Everyone was calm. There was total silence. No screaming, nothing. That's not what school is like. "And the emergency services arrived in normal police cars, four of them with bulletproof vests, and then they went in." Nitsche said it was hard to grasp the enormity of what had happened. What he experienced was just one part of "a mosaic with lots of pieces". He went back to help comfort students outside the school on Wednesday. A City In Shock A large black banner, "Graz stands together", was strung across a fence nearby as Austria's second city tried to come to terms with the tragedy. Small groups of students, most dressed in black and many of them crying, placed candles at the entrance of the closed school. Tuesday's shooting is an unprecedented case of deadly gun violence in the usually peaceful Alpine country. Police said the shooter, a 21-year-old former student at the school, killed himself in a toilet after leaving 10 dead or dying and wounding 12 others. Police found a "non-functional homemade bomb" during a search of his home. A goodbye letter addressed to the suspect's parents was also recovered, though it included no clues about his motive. Locals in Graz are struggling to express their shock. "You can see here how the whole city, probably the whole country is reeling," Michael Saad, a 22-year-old student, told AFP at a candlelight vigil late Tuesday. Saad was among hundreds gathered at the central square in Graz, many young people, placing candles at the feet of a monument in the square in a sombre atmosphere as people stood in silence. Many hugged with tears in their eyes, while others talked quietly in muffled voices.
