Who Was Arthur A? Austrian School Shooter Killed Neighbor's Daughter During Rampage and Asked Mom to Take Care of His Beloved Cat
New details have emerged about the Austrian gunman who killed 10 people at his former school on Tuesday, revealing that one of his victims was a young girl who lived in his neighborhood. This came as the gunman was identified as 21-year-old Artur A. from a suburb of Graz.
Arthur also left behind disturbing messages for his family and had initially planned to carry out a bombing before abandoning that idea. The former student shot dead a teacher and nine students, all aged between 14 and 17, during the deadly rampage at the school in Graz. Eleven more were injured before Artur committed suicide in the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school.
Left Message Before Going on Rampage
The first victim of the tragedy was identified on Wednesday as 15-year-old Lea Ilir Bajrami. Police confirmed that Artur used two legally owned weapons—a shotgun and a pistol—during the attack, which lasted for nearly 13 minutes.
This came as it was revealed that Artur recorded a farewell video addressed to his mother, in which he asked for forgiveness for "what I'm about to do now" just moments before launching the assault.
According to Austrian news outlet Heute, his mother saw the message 24 minutes after it was sent and immediately contacted the police. However, by then, Artrur has already started the rampage, and had taken his own life in a school toilet.
In another message he left behind, Artur reportedly blamed the school and experiences of bullying for his actions. He also requested that someone take care of his cat, as reported by Kronen Zeitung.
Investigators searching his home found a non-functional pipe bomb and said that he had abandoned an earlier plan to carry out a bombing.
"A farewell letter in analog and digital form was found," Franz Ruf, the public security director at Austria's Interior Ministry, told ORF public television Tuesday night.
"He says goodbye to his parents. But no motive can be inferred from the farewell letter, and that is a matter for further investigations."
Attacked for Being Bullied
When asked whether the attacker had randomly attacked or targeted them specifically, Ruf said that the matter is still being investigated. He said that victims with injuries were found on multiple floors of the school building, and one person was even found outside, near the entrance.
The students who were killed were between 14 and 17 years old, and a teacher was also among the dead.
Newly released information reveals that the shooter, who was just shy of his 22nd birthday, did not have any personal social media accounts.
Described as a recluse, Artur reportedly had contact with only one friend, who was unaware of any plans of carrying out the attack on Tuesday morning.
Although he had been living in Kalsdorf—a town of around 8,000 residents—for five years, he never took part in community events, sports, or local activities.
Artur studied computer science during middle school and later attended a business school, which he left in 2019, according to local reports. He lived with his single mother in a suburb of Graz and had reportedly found it tough getting a job, Heute reported.
Artur is believed to have previously attended the school where the attack took place on Tuesday, although he did not finish his education there.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
18 hours ago
- Straits Times
Austrian shooter posted online just before school massacre, media say
FILE PHOTO: A flower is seen on the fences of the school, following a deadly shooting at a secondary school, in Graz, Austria, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo Flowers and candles are seen in front of the fences of the school, following a deadly shooting at a secondary school, in Graz, Austria, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger Emergency personnel stand in front of the site of a deadly shooting at a secondary school, in Graz, Austria, June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Borut Zivulovic VIENNA - The 21-year-old man behind Austria's worst school shooting posted on social media from the building just before he shot dead 10 people then killed himself this week, Austrian newspapers reported on Friday. Police described the Austrian as an introvert and an avid player of online shooting games who had largely withdrawn from the outside world before he carefully planned Tuesday's attack. Newspapers Heute and Kronen Zeitung published details of a photo the young man apparently took inside a toilet cubicle with a timestamp minutes before police said the attack began in the school in Graz, a city in the southern state of Styria. The photo was published on X, they said. Kronen Zeitung said the man had an interest in the 1999 U.S. Columbine school massacre in Colorado carried out by two teenage shooters and that he apparently used a photo of one of the pair on his profile with his online gaming pseudonym. Heute said the man had also published pictures of the pistol and the shotgun he would go on to use during the shooting on other social media. A spokesman for police in Styria declined to confirm the reports or whether the man had social media accounts. Police have been scouring the perpetrator's electronic devices, and said on Thursday that they had not discovered any video of the high school shooting on his mobile phone. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
18 hours ago
- Straits Times
Killings at European schools fan concern U.S. problem is spreading
FILE PHOTO: Flowers and candles are seen in front of the fences as a banner reads ''Graz standing together'', following a deadly shooting at a secondary school, in Graz, Austria, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/ File Photo ZURICH - A spate of school killings in Western Europe has raised pressure on authorities to tackle a problem long seen as a largely U.S. 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. "Mass shootings, of which school shootings are a part, were overwhelmingly a U.S. 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 U.S. 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. 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. RESISTANCE 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. 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. Meanwhile in France, President Emmanuel Macron this month pressed for EU regulation to ban social media for children under 15 following a fatal school stabbing. What motivated the Austrian school gunman is still under investigation. Police said he was socially withdrawn and passionate about online shooting games. Most such shootings are carried out by young men, and criminologist Lankford said there was a global phenomenon of perpetrators seeking notoriety that eluded them in real life, driven in part by social media. "Even if the shooters expect to die, some are excited about leaving behind a legacy." Austria has relatively liberal gun laws, and President Alexander Van der Bellen said after the attack the legislation deserved closer scrutiny. Broad support in Austria for tightening gun ownership laws looked probable, although a general ban on private weapons seems unlikely, said political scientist Peter Filzmaier. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Straits Times
Austrian investigators slowly build profile of school shooter
People attend a memorial service at a main square in Graz, following a deadly shooting at a secondary school, Austria, June 11, 2025. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger FILE PHOTO: Police officers stand as children are evacuated from the school, following a deadly school shooting in Graz, Austria, June 10, 2025. REUTERS/Borut Zivulovic/File Photo GRAZ, Austria - Austrian investigators were on Thursday slowly piecing together the character of the man who carried out the country's worst school shooting this week, with officials struggling to reach anyone who knew the deceased 21-year-old well. The Austrian man, identified by local media as Arthur A., killed 10 people 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 bomb during a search of his home after the shooting, but what triggered his destructive urges remains unclear. 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, though police have not confirmed this. Neighbours and officials in the commuter town of Kalsdorf bei Graz, where he lived, described a withdrawn, slight man who generally wore a cap and headphones, covering himself up. Of over a dozen local residents spoken to about the suspect by Reuters, few wanted to talk at all. Some said they had seen him, but none said they knew him. "He's not at all known in the place, that is, we weren't able to speak to either friends or acquaintances yesterday," local council official Sabine Jakubzig told Austrian television. According to newspaper Heute, investigators said he did not have a personal account on social media. Police, who declined to comment, will hold a press conference later on Thursday. Austrian magazine Profil said three months ago the suspect had started practising shooting at a club near his home, citing an unidentified regular at the range. The man related how he had praised the young man for his accuracy, but received no response. "He was like someone from another planet," Profil quoted the shooting club regular as saying. Questions about the bullying allegations at the Dreierschutzengasse school the young 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." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
