Multiple people have been killed in an attack at a high school in the southern Austrian city of Graz, authorities said.
Police said that there had been “several deaths” after an operation was launched following reports of gunshots in Dreierschützengasse street. The operation began at 10 a.m. local time (0800 UTC).
Police said in a later statement that the school had been succesfully evacuated.
“The situation is secure,” police said. “No further danger is expected.”
The suspected perpetrator’s motive was initially unclear.
Police said that a helicopter had been deployed as part of the operation.
Graz has around 300,000 inhabitants and is the capital of Styria state.
What did Graz’s mayor say about the shooting?
Graz mayor Elke Kahr said that ten people were killed in the shooting, including the suspected perpetrator, according to Austria’s APA news agency. Among the dead were at least one adult and several children.
Media reported that the suspected shooter was thought to be have been a 22-year-old former student of the school.
Several people were also reportedly injured. The Kronen Zeitung daily said that number of injured in the attack was in the “double digits.”
The ORF public broadcaster cited police as saying that both students and teachers were among the casualties.
Police said they believed that the shooter had acted alone.
A ‘national tragedy’
Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker extended his condolences to the victims and their loved ones in a post on X.
The school shooting in Graz “is a national tragedy that has shocked our whole country,” Stocker said.
“There are no words for the pain and grief that we are all … feeling.”
President Alexander van der Bellen said that the attack had hit Austria “right in the heart.”
“Austria is in mourning,” he said. “And in this hour, we are standing together.”
Meanwhile, the chancellor of neighboring Germany, Friedrich Merz, said Germans were mourning with Austrians.
“Horrific news from Graz. Our thoughts are with our Austrian friends and we mourn with them,” he said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also expressed her condolences in an X post.
“My thoughts are with the victims, their families and friends,” she said. “Schools are a symbol for youth, hope and the future. It is hard to bear when schools become places of death and violence.”
EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said she was “deeply shocked by the news of the school shooting in Austria.”
“Every child should feel safe at school and be able to learn free from fear and violence.”
How strict are Austria’s gun laws?
Austria has nearly 30 civilian firearms per 100 people, according to the Small Arms Survey research project.
The Alpine country has banned automatic weapons and pump action guns, while revolvers, pistols and semi-automatic weapons are allowed with a permit.
Rifles and shotguns are permitted with a firearms license, a valid hunting licence or for members of shooting clubs.
In 2020, four were killed and 22 injured in a shooting in the center of Vienna.
The attack was carried out by a sympathizer of the so-called Islamic State (IS) group.
Edited by: Kieran Burke
