Latest news with #Dreierschuetzengasse
Free Malaysia Today
a day ago
- Free Malaysia Today
5 dead, others injured in Austrian school attack
Police said an operation is underway in a street called Dreierschuetzengasse. (EPA Images pic) VIENNA : At least five people have been killed in an attack at a school in the Austrian city of Graz and others were injured, Austrian media including tabloid Kronen Zeitung reported today. Citing local police, Austrian state media ORF said several people had been seriously injured, including students and teachers. It said the suspected perpetrator, reportedly a pupil, is believed to have killed himself. Police said an operation was underway in a street called Dreierschuetzengasse, on which there is a secondary school, but declined further comment. Police are currently evacuating the building, ORF said.
News.com.au
a day ago
- News.com.au
'This isn't real': teacher's narrow escape from Austria school shooter
A teacher told AFP 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 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.
Khaleej Times
a day ago
- Khaleej Times
'This isn't real': Teacher's narrow escape from Austria school shooter
A teacher told AFP 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 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.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former student kills 10 in Austrian high school shooting
Austria will observe a national day of mourning and a minute's silence on Wednesday after a former student shot dead 10 people at a high school in an unprecedented case of gun violence that stunned the Alpine country. The 21-year-old shooter acted alone and took his own life in the toilet at Dreierschuetzengasse high school in Graz, police said. Investigators found a good-bye letter addressed to the suspect's parents during a search of his residence, but it included no clues about his motive. After arriving in Graz, Chancellor Christian Stocker described the shooting as "a national tragedy". "This is a dark day," he told reporters Tuesday as he announced three days of national mourning. A minute's silence will be observed across the country at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) on Wednesday. Nine victims were immediately confirmed and a woman died later in hospital from her wounds, an official said. A 17-year-old French student was among the victims, his father told AFP. Twelve people suffered serious injuries and police said support was being provided to witnesses and those affected. According to police, the alleged perpetrator was an Austrian from the Graz region who used two legally owned weapons. He was a former student at the high school, but never finished his studies there, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told reporters. - 'Shocked' - Bouquets of flowers and candles were placed in front of the school, which has around 400 students aged between 14 and 18, and nearby businesses closed. One resident, originally from the United States, whose children attend a nearby elementary school and kindergarten, told AFP she was "shocked" and it was "a lot to take in". "In my home country it happens more often as we know, but that it happens here is unheard of," she said, declining to give her name. "Graz is a safe city," said Roman Klug, 55, who said he lived close to the school that he said was "known for its openness and diversity". - Rare attack - Condolences poured in from across Europe. French President Emmanuel Macron said that "France extends its deepest sympathy to the victims' families, the Austrian people and Chancellor Stocker during this difficult time". German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said "our thoughts are with our Austrian friends and neighbours" following the "horrific" shooting. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban offered his "deepest condolences". European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said "the news from Graz touches my heart", while Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her sympathies to the families of the victims following the "tragic news". Attacks in public are rare in Austria, which is home to almost 9.2 million people and ranks among the 10 safest countries in the world, according to the Global Peace Index. While still less common than in the United States, Europe has been shaken by attacks at schools and universities in recent years that were not connected to terrorism. In France, a teaching assistant was killed in a knife attack at a school in the eastern town of Nogent on Tuesday. In January, an 18-year-old man fatally stabbed a high school student and a teacher at a school in northeastern Slovakia. And in December, a 19-year-old man stabbed a seven-year-old student to death and injured several others at a primary school in Zagreb, Croatia. In December 2023, an attack by a student at a university in central Prague left 14 people dead and 25 injured. A few months earlier, a 13-year-old gunned down nine fellow classmates and a security guard at an elementary school in Belgrade. jza-bg-kym/dhw/cms
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former student kills 10 in Austrian high school shooting
Austria will observe a national day of mourning and a minute's silence on Wednesday after a former student shot dead 10 people at a high school in an unprecedented case of gun violence that stunned the Alpine country. The 21-year-old shooter acted alone and took his own life in the toilet at Dreierschuetzengasse high school in Graz, police said. Investigators found a good-bye letter addressed to the suspect's parents during a search of his residence, but it included no clues about his motive. After arriving in Graz, Chancellor Christian Stocker described the shooting as "a national tragedy". "This is a dark day," he told reporters Tuesday as he announced three days of national mourning. A minute's silence will be observed across the country at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) on Wednesday. Nine victims were immediately confirmed and a woman died later in hospital from her wounds, an official said. A 17-year-old French student was among the victims, his father told AFP. Twelve people suffered serious injuries and police said support was being provided to witnesses and those affected. According to police, the alleged perpetrator was an Austrian from the Graz region who used two legally owned weapons. He was a former student at the high school, but never finished his studies there, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told reporters. - 'Shocked' - Bouquets of flowers and candles were placed in front of the school, which has around 400 students aged between 14 and 18, and nearby businesses closed. One resident, originally from the United States, whose children attend a nearby elementary school and kindergarten, told AFP she was "shocked" and it was "a lot to take in". "In my home country it happens more often as we know, but that it happens here is unheard of," she said, declining to give her name. "Graz is a safe city," said Roman Klug, 55, who said he lived close to the school that he said was "known for its openness and diversity". - Rare attack - Condolences poured in from across Europe. French President Emmanuel Macron said that "France extends its deepest sympathy to the victims' families, the Austrian people and Chancellor Stocker during this difficult time". German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said "our thoughts are with our Austrian friends and neighbours" following the "horrific" shooting. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban offered his "deepest condolences". European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said "the news from Graz touches my heart", while Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her sympathies to the families of the victims following the "tragic news". Attacks in public are rare in Austria, which is home to almost 9.2 million people and ranks among the 10 safest countries in the world, according to the Global Peace Index. While still less common than in the United States, Europe has been shaken by attacks at schools and universities in recent years that were not connected to terrorism. In France, a teaching assistant was killed in a knife attack at a school in the eastern town of Nogent on Tuesday. In January, an 18-year-old man fatally stabbed a high school student and a teacher at a school in northeastern Slovakia. And in December, a 19-year-old man stabbed a seven-year-old student to death and injured several others at a primary school in Zagreb, Croatia. In December 2023, an attack by a student at a university in central Prague left 14 people dead and 25 injured. A few months earlier, a 13-year-old gunned down nine fellow classmates and a security guard at an elementary school in Belgrade. jza-bg-kym/dhw/cms
