A former pupil kills ten people: Authorities said a former student killed ten people and injured twelve more when he opened fire at a school in the second-largest city in Austria on Tuesday before killing himself.
The 21-year-old male had no prior police record, thus there was no instant information available about his motivation. Authorities reported that he used two legally owned guns.
In Graz, a city in southeast Austria with a population of roughly 300,000, Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker told reporters, “Today is a dark day in the history of our country.”
He described it as “a national tragedy that shocks us deeply” and announced that the Austrian flag would be flown at half-staff in official buildings during three days of national mourning. In honor of the victims, a nationwide minute of silence was scheduled for Wednesday morning.
Following reports of gunfire at the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school at 10 a.m., special troops were dispatched to the location, which is approximately a kilometer (more than half a mile) from Graz’s historic center.
The school was evacuated and more than 300 police officers were dispatched to the scene. The scene’s video showed students swiftly streaming out past armed officers.
Security was restored in 17 minutes, according to the police.
According to police, the lone attacker was a 21-year-old Austrian guy who lived close to Graz. His name was not made public.
Gerald Ortner, the regional police chief, stated that the attacker was reportedly in lawful possession of the two firearms that were used in the shooting and found at the scene: a handgun and a long gun. The man committed suicide in a restroom.
According to Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, the shooter had attended the institution but had not finished his education. He didn’t say the man’s age or when he left the school.
Karner stated on Tuesday afternoon that three of the deceased were men and six were women, but he provided no other details. Twelve people were injured, he said. The Austria Press Agency later reported that a tenth victim, an adult woman, had passed away from her wounds, according to the state hospital in Graz.
Austria’s Red Cross reported that they had dispatched 65 ambulances to the scene, and 158 emergency personnel were assisting in the treatment of the injured. Additionally, 40 psychologists with specialized training were counseling parents and students. Additionally, the Red Cross urged residents to come forward and give blood.
When Metin Özden heard police cars speeding past and then a police helicopter overhead, he was at his kebab business close to the school. I sensed something horrible had happened,” he told the Krone tabloid. In my entire life, I have never seen so many emergency services. Additionally, he told the newspaper about how he saw parents sobbing as they passed his eatery on their way to school.
The violence on Tuesday seems to be the most deadly assault in Austria’s history following World War II.
In 2020, four individuals lost their lives in Vienna, while the suspect, an Islamic State sympathizer, also met his demise through gunfire. A policeman was among the more than 20 other individuals injured.
In June 2015, a man in an SUV crashed through a crowd in downtown Graz, killing three people and injuring over thirty.
With a long history of hunting, Austria has some of the EU’s more lenient firearms regulations.
Certain firearms, like shotguns and rifles that need to be manually reloaded after every shot, are legal to buy in Austria without a permission as early as age 18. Gun dealers just need to confirm that the buyer is not prohibited from possessing a firearm and that the weapon is entered into the central weapons register.
Obtaining other weapons, including semi-automatic firearms or repeating shotguns, is more challenging; purchasers must have a firearms pass and a gun ownership card.
