Latest news with #nationalmourning
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Austria school shooting: What we know about the victims and shooter
A lone gunman killed nine people, including students and one adult, and injured 12 at a school in Graz, Austria, marking one of the country's worst mass shootings. The shooting occurred at the BORG Dreierschutzengasse secondary school around 10 a.m., prompting a large-scale emergency response. The shooter was identified as a 21-year-old former student of the school who legally owned the two firearms used in the attack and is believed to have taken his own life in the school's toilet. Authorities have launched an investigation to determine the shooter's motives, with Interior Minister Gerhard Karner confirming that six of the deceased were female and three were male, in addition to the shooter. Austria has declared a three-day period of national mourning, with no public events to be held in the state of Styria, as leaders express grief and shock over the tragedy.
Associated Press
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Here's what we know about a school shooting in Austria
GRAZ, Austria (AP) — A shooter opened fire inside a school in Austria's second-biggest city Tuesday, killing nine people, authorities said. At least 12 others were wounded in the attack, and the gunman later died by suicide in a bathroom in the school in Graz, officials said. Details about the suspect's motive, as well as information about the victims, were not immediately available. Here's what we know: Nine people were killed The shooter opened fire at a school in Graz, killing nine people and wounding at least 12 others before taking his own life, authorities said. Special forces were among those sent to the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school, about a kilometer (over half a mile) from Graz's historic center, after a call at 10 a.m. At 11:30 a.m., police wrote on social network X that the school had been evacuated and everyone had been taken to a safe meeting point. Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said there would be three days of national mourning, with the Austrian flag lowered to half-staff and a national minute of mourning at 10 a.m. Wednesday. 'A school is more than just a place of learning,' Stocker said. 'It is a space of trust, of security, of the future. The fact that this safe space was shattered by such an act of violence leaves us speechless.' Graz, Austria's second-biggest city, is located in the southeast of the country and has about 300,000 inhabitants. Gunman was a former student The gunman was a former student at the school who didn't finish his studies, Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said. His name has not been made public in line with Austrian privacy rules. Authorities say he was a 21-year-old Austrian man who had two weapons, which he appeared to have owned legally. Police said they didn't immediately have information on the man's motive, but said he died by suicide in a toilet after the attack. Other major attacks in AustriaTuesday's violence appeared to be the deadliest attack in Austria's postwar history. Other attacks in the country include when four people were killed in Vienna in 2020 and the suspect, a sympathizer of the Islamic State group, also died in a shooting that stunned the Austrian capital. More than 20 other people, including a police officer, were wounded. In 2019, a 25-year-old man turned himself in to Austrian police after he killed his ex-girlfriend, her family and her new boyfriend in the Alpine resort town of Kitzbuehel. And almost exactly 10 years ago, on June 20, 2015, a man killed three people and injured more than 30 when he drove through a crowd in downtown Graz with an SUV. Gun culture in Austria Austria has some of the more liberal gun laws in the European Union. Traditionally, many in the Alpine country go hunting and it's more common to carry a weapon for that and less for self-defense. Some weapons, such as rifles and shotguns that must be reloaded manually after each shot, can be purchased in Austria from the age of 18 without a permit. Gun dealers only need to check if there's no weapons ban on the buyer, and the weapon is then added to the central weapons register. Other weapons, such as repeating shotguns or semi-automatic firearms, are more difficult to acquire — buyers need a gun ownership card and a firearms pass.
The Independent
4 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Here's what we know about a school shooting in Austria
A shooter opened fire inside a school in Austria's second-biggest city Tuesday, killing nine people, authorities said. At least 12 others were wounded in the attack, and the gunman later died by suicide in a bathroom in the school in Graz, officials said. Details about the suspect's motive, as well as information about the victims, were not immediately available. Here's what we know: Nine people were killed The shooter opened fire at a school in Graz, killing nine people and wounding at least 12 others before taking his own life, authorities said. Special forces were among those sent to the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school, about a kilometer (over half a mile) from Graz's historic center, after a call at 10 a.m. At 11:30 a.m., police wrote on social network X that the school had been evacuated and everyone had been taken to a safe meeting point. Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said there would be three days of national mourning, with the Austrian flag lowered to half-staff and a national minute of mourning at 10 a.m. Wednesday. 'A school is more than just a place of learning," Stocker said. 'It is a space of trust, of security, of the future. The fact that this safe space was shattered by such an act of violence leaves us speechless.' Graz, Austria's second-biggest city, is located in the southeast of the country and has about 300,000 inhabitants. Gunman was a former student The gunman was a former student at the school who didn't finish his studies, Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said. His name has not been made public in line with Austrian privacy rules. Authorities say he was a 21-year-old Austrian man who had two weapons, which he appeared to have owned legally. Police said they didn't immediately have information on the man's motive, but said he died by suicide in a toilet after the attack. Other major attacks in Austria Tuesday's violence appeared to be the deadliest attack in Austria's postwar history. Other attacks in the country include when four people were killed in Vienna in 2020 and the suspect, a sympathizer of the Islamic State group, also died in a shooting that stunned the Austrian capital. More than 20 other people, including a police officer, were wounded. In 2019, a 25-year-old man turned himself in to Austrian police after he killed his ex-girlfriend, her family and her new boyfriend in the Alpine resort town of Kitzbuehel. And almost exactly 10 years ago, on June 20, 2015, a man killed three people and injured more than 30 when he drove through a crowd in downtown Graz with an SUV. Gun culture in Austria Austria has some of the more liberal gun laws in the European Union. Traditionally, many in the Alpine country go hunting and it's more common to carry a weapon for that and less for self-defense. Some weapons, such as rifles and shotguns that must be reloaded manually after each shot, can be purchased in Austria from the age of 18 without a permit. Gun dealers only need to check if there's no weapons ban on the buyer, and the weapon is then added to the central weapons register. Other weapons, such as repeating shotguns or semi-automatic firearms, are more difficult to acquire — buyers need a gun ownership card and a firearms pass.
Sky News
4 hours ago
- Sky News
Austria school shooting live: Police give details of killer who shot dead multiple students in Graz attack
A lone attacker has shot dead nine people at a school in the Austrian city of Graz. Officials say the suspect, who was 21 and had two guns, killed himself in the bathroom. Three days of national mourning have been announced. Follow the latest here.
BreakingNews.ie
5 hours ago
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
At least nine dead in Austrian school shooting
At least nine people have been killed and 12 others were injured in a shooting at a school in the Austrian city of Graz. The suspected perpetrator also died, the city's mayor said. Advertisement Special forces were among those sent to the BORG Dreierschutzengasse high school, just under a mile from Graz's historic centre, after a call at 10am local time (9am BST). At 11.30am (10.30am BST), police wrote on social network X that the school had been evacuated and everyone had been taken to a safe meeting point. Nine people were killed (Servus TV via AP) Authorities say the assailant was a 21-year-old Austrian man who had two weapons, which he appeared to have owned legally. Police said they did not immediately have information on the man's motive, but said that he killed himself in a toilet after fatally shooting nine people. Advertisement Austrian interior minister Gerhard Karner said at a press conference in Graz that the gunman was a former student at the school who did not finish his studies. Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said there would be three days of national mourning, with the Austrian flag lowered to half-staff and a national minute of mourning at 10am on Wednesday (9am BST). He said that it was 'a dark day in the history of our country'. Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, left, and Chancellor Christian Stocker, took part in a news conference (AP) Police deployed in large numbers, with police and other emergency vehicles guarding the area around the school and with at least one police helicopter flying above the area, according to photos published by the regional newspaper Kleine Zeitung. Advertisement Graz, Austria's second-biggest city, is located in the south-east of the country and has about 300,000 inhabitants. Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker, who is going to Graz, said the shooting 'is a national tragedy that deeply shocks our whole country'. 'There are no words for the pain and grief that all of us — the whole of Austria — feel now,' he wrote in a statement posted on X. Die Nachrichten aus Graz treffen ins Mark. Meine Gedanken sind bei den Opfern, ihren Familien und Freunden. Schulen sind Symbole für Jugend, Hoffnung, und Zukunft. Es ist schwer zu ertragen, wenn Schulen zu Orten von Tod und Gewalt werden. Mein Dank gilt den Einsatzkräften… — Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) June 10, 2025 President Alexander Van der Bellen said that 'this horror cannot be captured in words'. Advertisement 'These were young people who had their whole lives ahead of them. A teacher who accompanied them on their way,' he said. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X: 'Schools are symbols for youth, hope and the future. 'It is hard to bear when schools become places of death and violence.'
