Austria School Shooting Death Toll Rises To 11
Ten people have been killed in a school shooting in the Austrian city of Graz, in what is the deadliest gun attack in the country’s recent history.
Police said the 21-year-old gunman, a former student, took his own life in a school bathroom shortly after.
The incident took place at Dreierschützengasse secondary school in the north-west of the city.
Six females and three males were killed in the attack, according to Interior Minister Gerhard Karner. A further 12 people were injured, some seriously, according to police.
Later on Tuesday, local media reported that an injured female had died in the hospital, bringing the number of victims killed to 10.
The gunman, who has not yet been named, was a former Dreierschützengasse student who didn’t graduate from the school, Karner told a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.
There has been a lot of speculation about the case, Karner noted, adding it is now the job of the criminal office to investigate.
In the same conference, police said the gunman’s motive was still under investigation.
Officers alsoconfirmed the gunman was not known to police before the attack.
Current information suggests the shooter legally owned the two guns used in the attack and had a firearms licence, police added.
Local media outlets have reported that the suspect used a pistol and a shotgun to carry out the shooting.
Three days of mourning have been declared in Austria, and a nationwide minute’s silence will be held on Wednesday at 10:00 local time in memory of the victims.
Flags on the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, where President Alexander Van der Bellen has his office, will fly at half mast.
The school where the attack took place will remain closed until further notice, according to Austria’s Education Minister, Christoph Wiederkehr.
The Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said Tuesday was a “dark day in the history of our country” and declared the shooting a “national tragedy”.
