Ten people have been killed in a school shooting in the Austrian city of Graz, police have said.
The gunman was an Austrian man and former Dreierschützengasse student who didn’t graduate from the school, Karner told a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.
The school where the attack took place will remain closed until further notice, according to Austria’s Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr.
She told BBC News “everybody knows somebody” at the school because Graz – despite being the second-largest city in Austria – is “not that big”.
“Every child should feel safe at school and be able to learn free from fear and violence,” she posted on X.
According to authorities, a school shooting in the Austrian city of Graz has claimed ten lives.
In the northwest of the city, at the Dreierschützengasse Secondary School, the incident occurred.
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said the attack killed three men and six women. The 21-year-old shooter, according to police, committed suicide in a school restroom not long after.
According to local media, 28 more people are receiving medical attention for their wounds in the hospital.
Karner told a news conference Tuesday afternoon that the shooter was an Austrian man who had previously attended Dreierschützengasse but had not graduated.
Officers acknowledged in the same conference that they had no prior knowledge of the shooter.
According to police, the gunman had a firearms license and was the lawful owner of the two weapons used in the assault.
Austria has announced three days of mourning and will observe a national minute of silence on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. local time to honor the victims.
Flags will fly at half mast on the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, the location of President Alexander Van der Bellen’s office.
Christoph Wiederkehr, Austria’s minister of education, has announced that the school where the attack occurred will stay closed until further notice.
“National tragedy” is how Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker described Tuesday’s shooting, calling it a “dark day in [the] history of our country.”.
He told the conference that this safe haven had been “violated” and that “a school is more than just a place to learn – it is a space for trust, for feeling comfortable, and for having a future.”.
He stated, “Being human is our strongest point in these trying times.”.
Seven of those killed were students, according to Austria’s APA news agency.
For Stocker, the attack “strikes our country right at its heart” in the immediate aftermath.
“These young individuals had their entire lives in front of them. “..”.
After hearing gunshots coming from inside the school, police said they launched an operation at 10:00 local time (09:00 BST).
According to the police, a specialized Cobra tactical unit, which deals with hostage situations and attacks, was sent to the school.
All students and teachers were evacuated from the building by authorities. The school had been secured, according to the police, and there was no longer any threat to the public.
According to Fanny Gasser, a journalist for the Austrian daily Kronen Zeitung, “We have witnessed people crying on the streets, speaking to friends who were at the school when the shooting occurred, who may have lost a friend.”.
Even though Graz is the second-biggest city in Austria, she told BBC News that “everybody knows somebody” at the school because it’s “not that big.”.
According to her, the school was probably unprepared for the potential for an assault. We live in Austria, which appears to be a very safe place, rather than America. “,”.
The incident was described as a “terrible tragedy” by Elke Kahr, the local mayor.
Vice-President Kaja Kallas of the European Commission expressed her “deep shock” at the news. She wrote, “Every child should feel safe at school and be able to learn free from fear and violence,” on X.
