Austria will observe a national day of mourning and a minute’s silence on Wednesday after a former student shot dead 10 people at a high school in an unprecedented case of gun violence that stunned the Alpine country.
The 21-year-old shooter acted alone and took his own life in the toilet at Dreierschuetzengasse high school in Graz, police said.
Investigators found a good-bye letter addressed to the suspect’s parents during a search of his residence, but it included no clues about his motive.
After arriving in Graz, Chancellor Christian Stocker described the shooting as “a national tragedy”.
“This is a dark day,” he told reporters Tuesday as he announced three days of national mourning. A minute’s silence will be observed across the country at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) on Wednesday.
Nine victims were immediately confirmed and a woman died later in hospital from her wounds, an official said. A 17-year-old French student was among the victims, his father told AFP.
Twelve people suffered serious injuries and police said support was being provided to witnesses and those affected.
According to police, the alleged perpetrator was an Austrian from the Graz region who used two legally owned weapons.
He was a former student at the high school, but never finished his studies there, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told reporters.
– ‘Shocked’ –
Bouquets of flowers and candles were placed in front of the school, which has around 400 students aged between 14 and 18, and nearby businesses closed.
One resident, originally from the United States, whose children attend a nearby elementary school and kindergarten, told AFP she was “shocked” and it was “a lot to take in”.
“In my home country it happens more often as we know, but that it happens here is unheard of,” she said, declining to give her name.
“Graz is a safe city,” said Roman Klug, 55, who said he lived close to the school that he said was “known for its openness and diversity”.
– Rare attack –
Condolences poured in from across Europe.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that “France extends its deepest sympathy to the victims’ families, the Austrian people and Chancellor Stocker during this difficult time”.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said “our thoughts are with our Austrian friends and neighbours” following the “horrific” shooting.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban offered his “deepest condolences”.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said “the news from Graz touches my heart”, while Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her sympathies to the families of the victims following the “tragic news”.
Attacks in public are rare in Austria, which is home to almost 9.2 million people and ranks among the 10 safest countries in the world, according to the Global Peace Index.
While still less common than in the United States, Europe has been shaken by attacks at schools and universities in recent years that were not connected to terrorism.
In France, a teaching assistant was killed in a knife attack at a school in the eastern town of Nogent on Tuesday.
In January, an 18-year-old man fatally stabbed a high school student and a teacher at a school in northeastern Slovakia.
And in December, a 19-year-old man stabbed a seven-year-old student to death and injured several others at a primary school in Zagreb, Croatia.
In December 2023, an attack by a student at a university in central Prague left 14 people dead and 25 injured.
A few months earlier, a 13-year-old gunned down nine fellow classmates and a security guard at an elementary school in Belgrade.
