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LAST UPDATE | 10 Jun
AT LEAST TEN people have been killed, and 11 others injured, in a shooting at a school in the Austrian city of Graz.
The suspected perpetrator also died, the city’s mayor said. The shooting happened at the BORG Dreierschutzengasse high school at around 10am local time.
Mayor Elke Kahr described the events as a “terrible tragedy”, the Austria Press Agency reported. Three days of mourning have been called by Chancellor Christian Stocker.
Authorities say the suspected assailant was a 21-year-old Austrian man who had two weapons, which he appeared to have owned legally. Police said the situation was “secure” and support was being provided to witnesses and those affected.
Police added they did not immediately have information on the man’s motive, but said that he took his own life after fatally shooting nine people. One woman later died in hospital of her injuries.
Austrian interior minister Gerhard Karner said at a press conference in Graz that the gunman was a former student at the school who did not finish his studies.
Chancellor Stocker said the Austrian flag lowered to half-staff and a national minute of mourning at 10am on Wednesday (9am Irish time). He said that it was “a dark day in the history of our country”.
Special forces were among those sent to the high school. At 11.30am local time (10.30am Irish time), police wrote on social media that the school had been evacuated.
It added that those inside had been taken to a safe meeting point, with students being supported by a crisis intervention. They had earlier said that a meeting point had been set up for parents at a nearby sports stadium.
They wrote that the situation was “under control” and said “no further danger is assumed.”
Police deployed in large numbers, with police and other emergency vehicles guarding the area around the school and with at least one police helicopter flying above the area, according to photos published by the regional newspaper Kleine Zeitung.
Graz, Austria’s second-biggest city, is located in the south-east of the country and has about 300,000 inhabitants.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he was “shocked and appalled” by the shooting.
“Such a horrific act of violence at a school is unconscionable. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families, the entire school community and the people of Austria,” he said in a social media post.
The European Union said: “We would like to offer our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and the entire city of Graz in Austria. And we stand together in mourning while we seek clarity in the wake of this horrible event in a school.”
Kaja Kallas, Vice-President of the European Commission, said she was “deeply shocked” by reports of the shooting.
Deeply shocked by the news of the school shooting in Austria.
— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) June 10, 2025
Every child should feel safe at school and be able to learn free from fear and violence.
My thoughts are with the victims, their families and the Austrian people in this dark moment.
“Every child should feel safe at school and be able to learn free from fear and violence,” Kallas posted on X. “My thoughts are with the victims, their families and the Austrian people in this dark moment.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X: “Schools are symbols for youth, hope and the future. It is hard to bear when schools become places of death and violence.”
With reporting from Press Association
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