At least 10 lifeless in Graz faculty taking pictures with main police operation underway in Austria
At least ten people have been killed after a gunman rampaged through a school in Graz, Austria, the city’s mayor said, in one of the country’s worst ever mass shootings.
Witnesses described chaos as vast numbers of police swarmed to the BORG school in the southern city of Graz on Tuesday morning after the sound of gunfire had rattled through the surrounding area.
Students and teachers barricaded themselves in their classrooms as the gunman took the lives of several students and at least one teacher, according to mayor Elke Kahr.
Follow the latest updates on the Graz shooting on our live blog.
The suspected gunman, who Salzburger Nachrichten reports was a 22-year-old former student armed with a pistol and shotgun, is among the dead, according to Ms Kahr. Police said shortly before midday that the school was secure and that all survivors had ben safely evacuated.
Austrian chancellor Christia Stocker described the shooting as a “national tragedy that has deeply shaken our entire country”.
He added: “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.”
Locals and family members have told Austrian media of the shock and panic after hearing the news of the shooting, which came shortly before the 10th anniversary of the Graz shooting on 20 June 2015 which killed three.
“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 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 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.
Source: independent.co.uk
