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Dubai Eye
3 hours ago
- Dubai Eye
Austrian school shooter was fan of online shooting games
The 21-year-old man who carried out Austria's worst school shooting was an introverted fan of online shooting games, criminal investigators said on Thursday. The Austrian man, identified by local media as Arthur A., killed 10 people on Tuesday 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 pipe bomb during a search of his home after the shooting in Graz, capital of the state of Styria. Police are still trying to establish a motive, but Michael Lohnegger, head of Styria's criminal investigation office, said findings indicated the man was very introverted and that his great passion was online first-person shooting games. "He led an extremely withdrawn life, he didn't want to take part in activities in normal life outside in the real world, he preferred to withdraw into the virtual space," Lohnegger told reporters. Police said the rampage at the school lasted about seven minutes and that the man shot himself in a toilet about 10 minutes after beginning the attack. A few minutes earlier, the man entered the school with a rucksack, then went into a bathroom to prepare for his assault. He put on a weapon belt with a hunting knife, donned shooting glasses and a headset and armed himself with a Glock pistol and sawn-off shotgun, police said. He opened fire at random on people on the second and third floors of the school, shooting off the locks to the doors in one of the classrooms he attacked, according to Lohnegger. Most of the victims were apparently unknown to the shooter, but he did know one of the teachers who died, police said. PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION He acquired the guns legally in April and May after passing a psychological evaluation to obtain the necessary permit. 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. The police declined to confirm this. Neighbours and officials in the commuter town of Kalsdorf bei Graz, where he lived, described a withdrawn, slight man who usually wore a cap and headphones, covering himself up. Of over a dozen local residents spoken to about the shooter by Reuters, few wanted to talk at all. Some said they had seen him, but none said they knew him. Questions about the bullying allegations at the Dreierschutzengasse school the 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."
Saudi Gazette
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
Saudi Arabia condemns Austria school shooting, offers condolences
Saudi Gazette Report RIYADH — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman have condemned the school shooting incident in the Austrian city of Graz, expressing their condolences and solidarity with Austria over the tragedy. In separate cables sent to Austrian Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, the Saudi leadership conveyed their deep sorrow over the shooting, which resulted in multiple deaths and injuries. They offered heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and wished the injured a swift recovery. Austrian authorities confirmed that at least 10 people were killed and several others seriously injured in two separate attacks, including a shooting inside a school in Graz. According to Austria's national broadcaster ORF, the suspect — reportedly a student — is believed to have died by suicide. Police launched a large-scale security operation across the country in response to the incident. The motive for the attack and the identities of the victims and assailant have not yet been disclosed. In a separate incident in France, a school principal was fatally stabbed by a student, further deepening the shock across Europe.
Hindustan Times
8 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Austrian school shooter was fan of online shooting games
GRAZ, Austria -The 21-year-old man who carried out Austria's worst school shooting was an introverted fan of online shooting games, criminal investigators said on Thursday. The Austrian man, identified by local media as Arthur A., killed 10 people on Tuesday 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 pipe bomb during a search of his home after the shooting in Graz, capital of the state of Styria. Police are still trying to establish a motive, but Michael Lohnegger, head of Styria's criminal investigation office, said findings indicated the man was very introverted and that his great passion was online first-person shooting games. "He led an extremely withdrawn life, he didn't want to take part in activities in normal life outside in the real world, he preferred to withdraw into the virtual space," Lohnegger told reporters. Police said the rampage at the school lasted about seven minutes and that the man shot himself in the head in a toilet about 10 minutes after beginning the attack. A few minutes earlier, the man entered the school with a rucksack, then went into a bathroom to prepare for his assault. He put on a weapon belt with a hunting knife, donned shooting glasses and a headset and armed himself with a Glock pistol and sawn-off shotgun, police said. He opened fire at random on people on the second and third floors of the school, shooting off the locks to the doors in one of the classrooms he attacked, according to Lohnegger. Most of the victims were apparently unknown to the shooter, but he did know one of the teachers who died, police said. PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION He acquired the guns legally in April and May after passing a psychological evaluation to obtain the necessary permit. 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. The police declined to confirm this. Neighbours and officials in the commuter town of Kalsdorf bei Graz, where he lived, described a withdrawn, slight man who usually wore a cap and headphones, covering himself up. Of over a dozen local residents spoken to about the shooter by Reuters, few wanted to talk at all. Some said they had seen him, but none said they knew him. Questions about the bullying allegations at the Dreierschutzengasse school the 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."
Boston Globe
20 hours ago
- Boston Globe
‘We're just speechless': Austria mourns after deadly school rampage
'We're just speechless — this seems to have come from nowhere,' said Simone Saccon, 20, a university student who has spent his life in Graz. He lives near the school, the BORG Dreierschützengasse, and was among those gathered outside Wednesday. Advertisement 'It's something you imagine happens in major cities or in the US, but that it would happen here?' he added. Austria was a nation in mourning Wednesday. Black flags flapped atop the public trams in Graz, a well-to-do city that is the nation's second-largest, after Vienna. At 10 a.m., the trains stopped running briefly as all of Austria observed a minute of silence to honor the victims. There was no further danger to the public, the police had said, even though authorities confirmed they had found an unexploded pipe bomb at the assailant's home. The 21-year-old shooter had left what officials called a 'farewell letter' and a video message to his parents, then returned to the school where he never graduated. He opened fire with a handgun and a shotgun before killing himself in a school bathroom, according to the police. Advertisement Officials said the note had done little to demystify why the young man, who legally obtained his weapons, had embarked on the deadly school shooting — one of Europe's worst in the past decade. Franz Ruf, public security director at the Austrian Interior Ministry, told the television channel ORF that the letter did not seem to include a motive for the attack. And so the nation, like so many communities across the United States and around the world that have endured similar tragedy, was left to wonder what had gone wrong. 'What's really important now is to talk, to be silent together, to listen,' said Paul Nitsche, 51, a pastor who teaches religion at the school and who was standing on the street in front of the mourning area for the students. Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker canceled appointments Tuesday to travel to Graz and declared three days of national mourning, including Wednesday's period of silence. Residents and political leaders were struggling to process the shock. On Wednesday morning, a headline at the online site of Kronen Zeitung, the nation's largest newspaper, declared: 'The day after the rampage: Austria cries with Graz.' Most of the victims were schoolchildren — six girls and three boys, ages 14 to 17, according to police. Another victim, a teacher, died later at a hospital. Nitsche was alone in a classroom between lessons when he heard the shots. His first instinct was to hide and wait. 'It was as silent as if it was the middle of the night,' he said. 'Everyone was playing dead — smart.' After it seemed safe, he said, he ran out into a hallway where he saw the gunman trying to get into a locked door by shooting at it. As he raced away, he saw the body of one of the victims, a girl, and kept on running until he saw police officers storming in. 'So many uniforms can be really comforting,' he said. Advertisement Outside the school, makeshift shrines of candles, flowers, and stuffed animals lined the perimeter of the school. Investigators and firefighters were still entering and exiting the premises, but otherwise the school buildings were dark and quiet. Officials canceled school for the remainder of the week as they decide how to proceed. The summer break starts in early July, and many graduating students have yet to take their final exams before potentially going on to university. Belkez Halici, 39, who lives across from the school, was preparing for work Wednesday, tears streaming down her face. She had tried to keep the news from her three children, but they had heard about it on social media, she said, and they were upset and scared. 'I've always said, schools here are not safe,' Halici said. 'With people coming and going, it's like a shopping center.' This article originally appeared in
Gulf Today
a day ago
- Gulf Today
Austrian police search for answers after mass shooting in school
Austrian authorities were seeking clues on Wednesday to why a 21-year-old gunman shot dead 10 people in a rampage at his former high school before killing himself, one of the worst outbreaks of violence in the country's modern history. Police said the man acted alone, armed with a shotgun and a pistol. They are scouring his home and the internet to understand why he opened fire on the school in Austria's second city of Graz on Tuesday, before shooting himself in a bathroom. The incident was hard to take in, said a religious studies teacher at the school, Paul Nitsche, who left his classroom before the gunman tried to enter, and briefly saw him trying to shoot the lock off another door. "This is something I couldn't even imagine before," he told national broadcaster ORF. "That's what the situation was like as I ran down the stairwell. I thought to myself: 'This wasn't real.'" Some Austrian media have said the young man, who has not been identified, apparently felt bullied, though police have yet to confirm this. Authorities said the suspect did not complete his studies at the school. Police work near a school where several people died in a shooting. Photo: AFP Police said he left a farewell note that did not reveal the motive for the attack and that a pipe bomb found at his home was not functional. Ennio Resnik, a pupil at the school, said students and teachers needed time to come to terms with what had happened, and asked that they be left in peace for a few days. "It's surreal, you can't describe or really understand it," he said, speaking to reporters outside an events centre near the school where students were being offered counselling. Some of the students gathered there cried, while others held each other. SECOND SCHOOL THREATENED Franz Ruf, director general of public security, said investigations into the motive were moving swiftly. Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker (centre) attends a memorial service. "We don't want to speculate at this point," he told ORF on Tuesday night. Police were on the alert for potential copycat attacks and they had received a threat against another school in Graz late on Tuesday, he said. In the earlier attack, about 17 minutes elapsed between the first emergency calls received by police about shots being fired at the school and the scene being declared safe, Ruf said. Austria has one of the most heavily armed civilian populations in Europe, says the Small Arms Survey, an independent research project. The attack sparked calls for its gun laws to be tightened, including one from Graz's mayor. Police said the guns used were in the suspect's possession legally, and Ruf said that while Austrian gun laws are strict, the case was being looked into. "If there are any loopholes, they need to be closed," he said. People light candles at a makeshift memorial site. Details of the attack have emerged slowly. Police said victims were found both outside and inside the school, on various floors. About a dozen people were injured in the attack, some seriously. Austria declared three days of national mourning, with the shootings prompting a rare show of solidarity among often bitterly divided political parties. Parents of pupils and neighbours of the school struggled to make sense of the event. Hundreds came together in Graz's main square on Tuesday evening to remember the victims. Others left flowers and lit candles outside the school. Dozens also queued to donate blood for the survivors. Reuters
