A lone gunman killed nine people and injured 12 others when he opened fire in a school in Austria on Tuesday, police have said, in one of the country’s worst ever mass shootings.
Hundreds of police officers swarmed to the BORG school in the southern city of Graz at 10am on Tuesday, where they found six females and three males shot dead, interior minister Gerhard Karner said in a press conference.
The suspected shooter, a 21-year-old Austrian who previously attended the school but did not graduate, shot himself dead in the toilet, police believe.
Mr Karner said in the Tuesday afternoon press conference that 12 people were injured in the shooting.
Police confirmed that the shooter was armed with two guns, both of which he had a licence for. An investigation into the perpetrator is ongoing.
Follow the latest updates on the Graz shooting on our live blog.
Austrian chancellor Christian Stocker has called a three-day period of mourning. He told the media that today is a “dark day in the history of our country” after a “national tragedy which has hit us deeply”.
The 65-year-old earlier had earlier said in a statement: “Through this incomprehensible act, young people have been torn from the lives they still had ahead of them. There are no words to express the pain and grief that everyone across Austria is feeling right now.”
Students and teachers barricaded themselves in their classrooms as the gunman fatally shot several students and at least one teacher, according to Ms Kahr. He was armed with a pistol and a shotgun, Salzburger Nachrichten reported.
Police said shortly before midday that the school was secure and that all survivors had been safely evacuated.
Locals and family members told Austrian media of their shock and panic after hearing the news of the incident, which came shortly before the 10th anniversary of the Graz shooting on 20 June 2015 in which three people were killed.
“My son called me today to say that he’s in school and being shot at, and that he thinks he’s going to die,” recalled one mother speaking on Sky News, soon after finding out that her son was still alive.
Mark Nolden, a 22-year-old student, told Krone: “I live across the street in the housing estate, and I know some children who attend this school. This is a huge shock for me. I hope everyone is okay. It’s a situation like something out of a movie, especially the uncertainty.”
The husband of a teacher who is barricaded in the classroom with her students has revealed to Krone newspaper that his wife heard several gunshots. Parents of the students who escaped have been permitted to see their children, while injured students are being cared for in the nearby Helmut List Hall.
Tearful parents of affected students gathered at an emergency response centre in the nearby ASKÖ Hall, where they were looked after by crisis teams.
A local shopkeeper who did not want to be named told The Independent that there were police “everywhere” in the area.
Styria governor Mario Kunasek (FPÖ) said: “What happened today in Graz is incomprehensible. As Governor of Styria and as a father, I am deeply saddened by this insane act, which has caused so much harm and incredible suffering. My thoughts are with the innocent victims, families, and teachers.”
Austrian foreign minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said on X: “It’s incomprehensible and unbearable. My sympathy and grief go out to the victims and their families. No one can imagine the suffering; as a mother of three children, it breaks my heart.”
Mr Kunasek said he was in contact with the government officials and police, and that all prior appointments have been cancelled.
A minute of silence will be held before the Austrian national football team’s World Cup Qualifier with San Marino on Tuesday evening. Another silence will be held at the Nova Rock Festival 2025 in Nickelsdorf, confirmed by organiser Ewald Tartar.
The shooting took place shortly before the tenth anniversary of the Graz shooting on 20 June 2015, which killed three people in an attack which has scarred the local community for years.
