A shooter killed at least nine people and wounded many others in an attack at a secondary school in the southern Austrian city of Graz on Tuesday, the city's mayor said.
Graz Mayor Elke Kahr was quoted by Austrian news agency APA as saying the attacker was also dead, and that many of the injured had been taken to hospital following the shooting, which she called a "terrible tragedy".
Police gave no initial toll but said "several" people were dead and they were working in the assumption there was only one attacker. APA video showed emergency workers loading a stretcher into an ambulance.
The reports did not specify how many of the dead were pupils. Ambulances were on the scene outside the school.
A local police spokesman said the area had been secured, the school had been evacuated and relatives of the victims and pupils were being cared for.
"There is no further danger for the population, but there are several dead," he told Austrian television.
Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper cited unconfirmed reports as saying the suspect was a 22-year-old former student who carried two weapons - a pistol and a shotgun. Kronen Zeitung tabloid said a suspect had been found dead in a bathroom. Reuters could not immediately confirm this.
UNBEARABLE
"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," Austria's Minister for European and International Affairs Beate Meinl-Reisinger wrote on X.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on X: "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."
Austria has one of the most heavily armed civilian populations in Europe, with an estimated 30 firearms per 100 persons, according to the Small Arms Survey, an independent research project.
Machine guns and pump action guns are banned, while revolvers, pistols and semi-automatic weapons are allowed only with official authorization. Rifles and shotguns are permitted with a firearms license or a valid hunting licence, or for members of traditional shooting clubs.
© Thomson Reuters 2025.
9 Comments
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sakurasuki
Austria really? Not US, that really unusual.
Fighto!
Shocking. Rest in Peace to the 8 innocent victims - 7 being HS students and one an adult. Hoping the injured can all survive.
The gunman is being reported as another student.
OssanAmerica
The following countries have suffered from random mass shootings with multiple victims, including school shootings.
Yemen.Philippines,Uganda,France,Germany,Canada,Finland,UK,Australia,Norway,Serbia, Russia and Sweden. And now Austria.
Terrible news. RIP to the victims.
TorafusuTorasan
@OssanAmerica--Is that list since the start of the year? Wikipedia lists four mass shootings for Austria in twelve years. Twenty three dead in the four incidents. And if this latest shooter was formerly attending the school, seems unlikely to be targeted at random.
OssanAmerica
Not based on time period. Simply nations where mass shootings with multiple victims have occured. Wasn't aware that Austria had 4 such incidents. BTW the Austrian authorities hacve not yet determined if the victims were random or targeted.
kaimycahl
@sakurasuki Shame on you to make any comparison but when a Japanese kills school kids and cut their heads off and put them on a school fence in the school yard should one say oh no not Japan! With that said I could say I was surprised to. Don't make comparison crime is everywhere. How soon do you forget.
Austria really? Not US, that really unusual.
Legrande
When people have access to powerful weapons tragic incidents are bound to occur
albaleo
I agree. There are nutcases everywhere, and easy access to guns increases the chance of sad events like this.
GuruMick
Australia totally reformed its gun laws after the Port Arthur Massacre.
Maybe Austria will do the same.