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Eight dead after school shooting in Austria

Eight dead after school shooting in Austria

Wales Online2 days ago

Eight dead after school shooting in Austria
Special forces were sent to the high school after shots were heard on Tuesday morning
Special forces were amongst those sent to the scene
(Image: AP )
Eight people have been killed in a shooting at a school in the Austrian city of Graz, including seven students and an adult. The suspected perpetrator is also dead, the city mayor's said.
Mayor Elke Kahr described the events as a "terrible tragedy", the Austria Press Agency reported. Special forces were among those sent to the BORG Dreierschutzengasse high school after a call at 10am local time. Some 158 paramedics are at the scene, the Red Cross told Sky News.

Police are yet to confirm the number of those killed or injured.

At 11.30am, police wrote on social network X that the school had been evacuated and everyone had been taken to a safe meeting point.
They wrote that the situation was "secured" and there is no longer believed to be any danger.
Article continues below
Graz, Austria's second-biggest city, is located in the south-east of the country and has about 300,000 inhabitants.
This is a breaking news story. More details will be added as and when they emerge.

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However, he appears to have shot his victims at random, and investigators have still not been able to ascertain his motive. The 21-year-old had left the BORG Dreierschutzengasse high school in Graz three years previously, breaking off his studies after attending for three years, police say. They said they knew of no personal connection between the gunman and the students he had shot, but that one of the two teachers he shot had once taught him. Officials were still investigating whether that was a factor in the attack. The incident prompted Austria to declare three days of national mourning and large numbers of candles have been laid in Graz's main square and outside the school. The assailant, an Austrian man who lived with his mother near Graz and whom officials have declined to identify, used a Mercury double-barrelled shotgun and a Glock 19 handgun in the shooting. Michael Lohnegger, the head of Styria province's criminal police office, said that he arrived at the school on Tuesday morning with a backpack containing the weapons, and put on equipment including shooting glasses and a headset in the bathroom before starting a roughly seven-minute shooting spree. The gunman opened fire indiscriminately on the building's third floor before shooting open the locked door of a fourth-floor classroom and again firing indiscriminately, Mr Lohnegger told a news conference. Mr Lohnegger said that the gunman had enough ammunition to continue shooting and it was unclear why he had not. The gunman then returned to the bathroom and fatally shot himself in the head. A search of his home uncovered a farewell letter and a video, which Mr Lohnegger said added up to 'an apology directed to his family for the crime and a general thank you', but offered 'no indication for the motive'. Authorities also found a handwritten note that showed he had planned the attack 'down to the smallest detail', setting out how he would proceed but giving no date for the crime. The note had suggested that he had lacked enough time to build a fully functional pipe bomb. Investigators had found one, but it would not have worked. Mr Lohnegger said a picture had emerged of a 'very introverted person' who largely did not take part in real-world activities and that his great passion was playing online first-person shooter games. 'But even here, there is no information from his personal surroundings that he ever expressed any anger or resentment towards the school, students or teachers,' he added. The man had no previous police record and 'there were definitely no particular problems with him at this school'. The gunman was in unspecified vocational training at the time of the attack, investigators added. He had bought the shotgun legally in Graz in early April and the handgun was bought from another shop in the city in late May. He had a licence to own the weapons that required a report from a psychological expert, which was allegedly produced in March. The gunman also took part in shooting practice five times in March at a shooting club in Graz using a hired firearm, Mr Lohnegger said. Six girls and three boys aged between 14 and 17 and a teacher were killed in the attack. Eleven people were wounded and authorities said that their lives were not in danger.

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However, he appears to have shot his victims at random, and investigators have still not been able to ascertain his motive. A police officer guards the entrance of a school where a former student opened fire (Darko Bandic/AP) The 21-year-old had left the BORG Dreierschutzengasse high school in Graz three years previously, breaking off his studies after attending for three years, police say. They said they knew of no personal connection between the gunman and the students he had shot, but that one of the two teachers he shot had once taught him. Officials were still investigating whether that was a factor in the attack. The incident prompted Austria to declare three days of national mourning and large numbers of candles have been laid in Graz's main square and outside the school. The assailant, an Austrian man who lived with his mother near Graz and whom officials have declined to identify, used a Mercury double-barrelled shotgun and a Glock 19 handgun in the shooting. People commemorate the victims of a shooting at a school (Darko Bandic/AP) Michael Lohnegger, the head of Styria province's criminal police office, said that he arrived at the school on Tuesday morning with a backpack containing the weapons, and put on equipment including shooting glasses and a headset in the bathroom before starting a roughly seven-minute shooting spree. The gunman opened fire indiscriminately on the building's third floor before shooting open the locked door of a fourth-floor classroom and again firing indiscriminately, Mr Lohnegger told a news conference. Mr Lohnegger said that the gunman had enough ammunition to continue shooting and it was unclear why he had not. The gunman then returned to the bathroom and fatally shot himself in the head. A search of his home uncovered a farewell letter and a video, which Mr Lohnegger said added up to 'an apology directed to his family for the crime and a general thank you', but offered 'no indication for the motive'. Investigators have yet to ascertain a motive for the shooting (Darko Bandic/AP) Authorities also found a handwritten note that showed he had planned the attack 'down to the smallest detail', setting out how he would proceed but giving no date for the crime. The note had suggested that he had lacked enough time to build a fully functional pipe bomb. Investigators had found one, but it would not have worked. Mr Lohnegger said a picture had emerged of a 'very introverted person' who largely did not take part in real-world activities and that his great passion was playing online first-person shooter games. 'But even here, there is no information from his personal surroundings that he ever expressed any anger or resentment towards the school, students or teachers,' he added. The man had no previous police record and 'there were definitely no particular problems with him at this school'. The gunman was in unspecified vocational training at the time of the attack, investigators added. Austrian President Alexander van Der Bellen attends a wreath-laying ceremony after a former student opened fire, killing 10 people and injuring many others before taking his own life (Darko Bandic/AP) He had bought the shotgun legally in Graz in early April and the handgun was bought from another shop in the city in late May. He had a licence to own the weapons that required a report from a psychological expert, which was allegedly produced in March. The gunman also took part in shooting practice five times in March at a shooting club in Graz using a hired firearm, Mr Lohnegger said. Six girls and three boys aged between 14 and 17 and a teacher were killed in the attack. Eleven people were wounded and authorities said that their lives were not in danger.

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