Ten people were killed and 11 were injured when a gunman opened fire at a high school in the Austrian city of Graz.
Police responded to reports of several suspected gunshots at the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school around 10 a.m. local time Tuesday, CNN reports. Victims were found both outside and inside the school on various floors. Killed in the attack were nine students — six females and three males aged 14 to 17 — and one female teacher. On Wednesday morning, hospital authorities said all surviving patients were in stable condition with nine remaining in intensive care units.
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The suspect, a 21-year-old male who had previously attended the school but did not graduate, used a shotgun and a pistol in the attack. He was found dead in a school bathroom from a self-inflicted gunshot, authorities said during a news conference.
More than 300 officers and 160 ambulance and first-aid responders were on the scene. The school was fully evacuated by around 11 a.m. and students were reunited with their families at a stadium approximately one mile from the school.
Graz Police searched the suspect’s home and found two suicide notes, a non-functional pipe bomb, and abandoned plans for a bombing. Police said the guns used in the attack were purchased legally. No motive has been revealed.
Austria has one of the most heavily armed civilian populations in Europe, with an estimated 30 firearms per 100 persons, says the Small Arms Survey, an independent research project. However, gun violence in the country is still rare. Austria’s rate of firearm homicides was 0.1 per 100,000 people in 2021, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. In comparison, firearm homicides were 4.5 per 100,000 people in the United States.
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Mass shootings in Austria are also rare with just two incidents occurring between 2000 and 2022, according to an analysis published in 2024 by the Rockefeller Institute of Government.
The country declared three days of national mourning following Tuesday’s attack.
