A quiet morning in Austria’s second-largest metropolis was shattered Tuesday when a suspected shooter opened hearth at BORG Dreierschützengasse faculty, leaving 10 useless, together with college students, an grownup, and the gunman, based on Mayor Elke Kahr.
The assault, which unfolded shortly after 10 a.m., prompted a swift response from police, who deployed particular forces and a helicopter to the scene in Graz, a metropolis of 300,000 in southeastern Austria.
“Gunshots were heard in the building,” police posted on X, confirming an ongoing operation.
An hour later, authorities had been nonetheless securing the world, with the Interior Ministry acknowledging a number of fatalities however withholding additional particulars.
The motive stays unclear, and police sources instructed Austria’s APA news company that the state of affairs was “very unclear.”
Efforts to achieve police and Interior Ministry officers for remark had been unsuccessful.
School shootings are uncommon in Europe, far much less frequent than within the U.S., however latest years have seen a disturbing uptick.
In December 2024, a 19-year-old stabbed a seven-year-old to dying at a major faculty in Zagreb, Croatia, injuring others.
A month earlier, a January 2025 assault in northeastern Slovakia left a pupil and a trainer useless.
In 2023, a pupil in central Prague killed 14 and injured 25 at a college, whereas a 13-year-old in Belgrade gunned down eight classmates and a safety guard.
Austria, a nation of 9.2 million, ranks among the many world’s most secure, based on the Global Peace Index.
Public assaults like this are uncommon within the Alpine nation, making Tuesday’s tragedy all of the extra jarring.
EU overseas coverage chief Kaja Kallas expressed horror on the news. “Every child should feel safe at school and be able to learn free from fear and violence,” she wrote on X. “My thoughts are with the victims, their families, and the Austrian people in this dark moment.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com