A gunman opened fire at a high school in Austria’s second most populous city, Graz, on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people, before taking his own life, according to the police.
Austria will observe a national day of mourning and a minute’s silence on Wednesday in the wake of the Central European nation’s deadliest mass shooting outside of wars.
Here is what we know so far:
What happened – and where?
The shooting occurred in the morning at the BORG Dreierschutzengasse secondary school in Graz, the capital of the southern Austrian province of Styria.
Police were called to the school at about 10am (08:00 GMT) after shots were heard there.
The school building was evacuated, with students and teachers escorted to a safe meeting place, and some 300 police officers were deployed.
Graz is about 200km (124 miles) southwest of Vienna and is home to historic landmarks like the Uhrturm, or Clock Tower, on the Schlossberg hill. The city of more than 300,000 people is the second most populous in the country after Vienna.
Known for its universities and colleges, Graz is a demographically diverse city. Foreign nationals make up a quarter of its population, with Croatians, Romanians, Germans and Bosnians the four largest groups, according to the city administration, as of January.
What do we know about the victims?
On Wednesday, police said that nine of those killed were teenage students — aged between 14 and 17. One of them was a Polish citizen. Meanwhile, the Bosnian embassy in Austria said two of the victims had Bosnian ethnicity, though they were not citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Additionally, a female teacher was killed: The state hospital in Graz said she died of her injuries, the Austria Press Agency (APA) reported.
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner had earlier said that 12 other people were wounded.
What do we know about the shooter?
Austrian news media identified the suspect as a 21-year-old former student. Interior Minister Karner and the police later confirmed the media reports, adding that he was an Austrian from the Graz region.
Karner told reporters that the suspect had never finished his studies and that his motive was still being investigated.
The suspect acted alone and took his own life in a toilet at the school in Graz, police said. His name has not been released yet.
On Tuesday, the newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten said he had been a victim of bullying. Al Jazeera, however, could not independently verify this claim.
The attacker reportedly carried a pistol and a shotgun and opened fire on pupils in two classrooms, one of which had once been his classroom. Police believe he legally owned the weapons.
The local police wrote in an X post that they were operating on the assumption that the perpetrator was acting alone.
Investigators found a goodbye letter addressed to the suspect’s parents during a search of his residence near Graz, but it included no clues about his motive. At his home, they also found a video, a pipe bomb that wasn’t functional, and plans for a future bombing.
What are the authorities saying?
Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker described the attack as a “national tragedy” in a statement posted on X.
“The rampage at a school in Graz is a national tragedy that has deeply shaken our entire country,” he wrote. “There are no words for the pain and grief that we all – all of Austria – are feeling right now.”
Stocker announced on Tuesday that Austria will hold three days of mourning in the wake of the incident. Flags at the presidential office, the chancellery and other official buildings are to be flown at half-mast during the mourning period.
Bouquets and candles were placed in front of the school, which has about 400 students aged between 14 and 18, and nearby businesses closed. A minute’s silence will be observed across the country at 10am (08:00 GMT) on Wednesday.
President Alexander Van der Bellen also released a statement on X, saying: “These were young people who had their whole lives ahead of them. A teacher who accompanied them on their journey. There is nothing that can ease the pain felt by the parents, grandparents, siblings and friends of the murdered people at this moment.”
What is the latest on the ground?
Heavily armed police, a helicopter and paramedics descended on the school following the shooting, police said.
More than 300 police officers were deployed to the school, which was evacuated. Footage from the scene showed students filing out quickly past armed officers.
Police said security was restored in 17 minutes.
Police wrote later on X that there was “no further danger” and that the “situation is secure”.
The police added that authorities had earmarked ASKO Stadium, home of local football club ESK Graz, as the designated meeting point for parents of students at the school. A police helicopter, officials said, was used in the rescue operation.
Austria’s Red Cross said it had deployed 65 ambulances to the scene, and 158 emergency staffers were sent to help treat the injured. In addition, 40 specially trained psychologists were made available to counsel students and parents.
What are the reactions to the incident?
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote in an X post: “Every child should feel safe at school and be able to learn free from fear and violence. My thoughts are with the victims, their families and the Austrian people in this dark moment.”
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen wrote in an X post: “Schools are symbols of youth, hope, and the future. It’s hard to bear when schools become places of death and violence.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X: “Schools should never become places of violence. Our hearts go out to the victims, their families, and the people of Austria.”
Have there been shootings in Austria in the past?
Yes.
Mass shootings in Austria date back to at least 1981, when a machinegun and grenade attack killed two people and injured 30 at a synagogue. The attack targeted people leaving a bar mitzvah ceremony. In 1982, two Palestinian men born in Jordan and Iraq were sentenced to life imprisonment for that attack.
In 2013, an alleged deer poacher shot dead three policemen and an ambulance driver while being chased by the police near the Austrian town of Annaberg. The perpetrator was identified as Alois Huber.
In 2016, a gunman opened fire at a concert in the town of Nenzing, killing two people and fatally shooting himself. Eleven people were injured. The attacker, Gregor Schallert, had been involved in a heated argument with his girlfriend before he opened fire, according to local reports.
In 2020, four people were killed and 23 were injured in a shooting in Vienna hours before the capital was to enter lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. The gunman was shot dead by the police. Authorities described the shooter as a sympathiser of the ISIL (ISIS) armed group.
How common is gun ownership in Austria?
Gun ownership is common in Austria, with about 30 firearms per 100 people, according to the independent research project Small Arms Survey. This makes Austrians one of the most heavily armed populations in Europe.
“People here have been saying that this is something that we used to watch on television, in places like the United States of America, Germany, or France,” Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra said, reporting from Graz. “And that they never imagined that something like this could happen right here, in their country.”
Machine guns and pump-action guns are banned in Austria.
Official authorisation is required to own revolvers, pistols and semiautomatic weapons. To own rifles and shotguns, Austrians require a firearms licence, a valid hunting licence or membership at traditional shooting clubs.
