A gunman opened fire Tuesday morning at a high school in the Austrian city of Graz, killing at least nine people-including students-and injuring 28 others in one of the deadliest school shootings in the country's history, according to police and government officials.
Authorities said the attack took place at the Bundesoberstufenrealgymnasium Dreierschützengasse around 10 a.m. local time. The perpetrator, reportedly a former student armed with a pistol and shotgun, fatally shot himself in a school bathroom as special police units closed in, officials confirmed.
Police evacuated the school and cordoned off the area shortly after receiving emergency calls. Police said on social media that the area was no longer believed to be dangerous.
Austrian Interior Ministry spokespersons said the victims included children between the ages of 14 and 18. State broadcaster ORF reported that both students and teachers were among the injured. "Some 28 people were admitted to hospital for treatment in relation to the shooting," according to local press reports.
Graz Mayor Elke Kahr called the shooting a "terrible tragedy," telling the Austria Press Agency that many injured were transported to hospitals. "This inconceivable act suddenly tore young people from the life they still had ahead of them," said Chancellor Christian Stocker in a statement posted on X.
President Alexander Van der Bellen added: "This horror cannot be captured in words. These were young people who had their whole lives ahead of them. A teacher who accompanied them on their way."
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also weighed in: "Schools are symbols for youth, hope and the future. It is hard to bear when schools become places of death and violence."
Authorities have not released the name of the shooter or a possible motive. However, Austrian media outlet Kronen Zeitung reported that the suspect was a former student of the school and that his body was found in a restroom with both firearms at the scene.
Emergency services, including ambulances and a police helicopter, were deployed quickly. Sabri Yorgun, a police spokesperson in Graz, said special forces from the Cobra unit were also sent to the school. "Authorities were working to gain an overview of what had happened," Yorgun stated.
Austria, a country with relatively high gun ownership but low gun crime rates, has rarely experienced mass shootings. According to the Small Arms Survey, Austria has around 30 civilian firearms for every 100 residents, one of the highest rates in the European Union. Yet firearm-related homicide rates remain low at 0.1 per 100,000 people, compared to 4.5 per 100,000 in the United States, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
Still, the country has seen a small number of high-profile violent attacks in recent years, including the shooting of a northern town's mayor in 2023 and a knife attack in February in which five people were stabbed in southern Austria.
