What we know about Graz mass shooting

The students were sitting in their classroom at a secondary school in Graz when a 21 -year -old Austrian man fired nine people who were killed, before killing himself.

Twelve people were injured in violence on Tuesday morning, with the death of one person after hours in the hospital due to their injuries.

The accident was the bloodiest in the history of modern Austria and the country announced three days of mourning.

The police are still investigating the reason for the armed man – the former student who did not graduate – the attack.

Here we know yet.

The first shot, through the Drashosinagas Secondary School, echoed in the northwest of Graz, near the main train station, at approximately 10:00 local time (09:00 GMT), which raised confusion at the beginning regarding what was happening.

“Was this snapshot? This could not be true. There should be something on the building site across the street,” said a 17 -year -old student, who was identified for his friends, according to Klein Ziteong.

One of the students told Die Presse that when the shots swing, the classroom closed the classroom immediately.

Another student told the paper that she initially thought that the shots were firecrackers, but “then there was screaming, and we ran.”

The local resident Astrid, who lives in a building next to the school, told the BBC that she heard 30 or 40 rounds. Her husband invited Franz the police.

“We have seen one student in the window – it seemed as if he was preparing to jump … but then he returned inside,” said Franz.

Franz said that the couple later seen that the students “left the school on the ground floor, from the other side” where “they gathered in the street.”

The authorities said the shooter took his private life in a school bath shortly after the Venice attack.

The police brought the situation under control in 17 minutes. More than 300 police officers, including a specialized Cobra tactical unit dealing with attacks and hostages, were deployed at school.

Six females and three males were killed in the attack, and a seventh woman died later in the hospital. Austrian APA news agency reported that seven of the dead were students.

The victims have not yet been named by the authorities.

One of the women, Tores, BBC News, told the main Square of Grat on Wednesday that she knew one of the boys who died. He was 17 years old.

She said: “I know this family for a long time, including the son of the family, and I knew that he attended that school.

“What happened yesterday is completely terrible, all Austria is in mourning,” she said. “This is terrible for all Austria.”

The Austrian media reported that the people who were injured were in a stable condition from Wednesday.

Police said that the 21 -year -old, who was not yet called, was an Austrian man from the broader Graz region that acted alone.

“He was a former student in Dreieschützengasse who did not graduate from school.

In a statement on Wednesday, the police said they had found a “farewell speech” and a non -functional bomb while searching for the suspect’s house. The authorities did not confirm the armed motive.

The police added that the current information indicates that the shooter legally owns the weapons used in the attack and had a license for firearms.

Austria has one of the most armed civilian population in Europe, with an estimated 30 firearms per 100 people, according to a small weapons survey, an independent research project.

A machine gun and pump guns are banned, while pistols, pistols and semi -automatic weapons are not allowed except with official permission. Guns and rifles are allowed to license firearms, a valid fishing license, or members of traditional shooting clubs.

School shoots are rare. There were some accidents over the years participated in a much fewer injuries:

• In 2018, another 19 -year -old was shot in Mestelbach, north of Vienna
• In 2012 in Saint Bolton, a student was killed by his father
• In 1997, in Zodburn, a 15 -year -old was killed as a teacher and was seriously injured
• In 1993, a 13 -year -old boy was seriously injured in Hausleiten with the head of the head and then killed himself

The most violent weapons attack occurred in Austria in recent years in the heart of Vienna in November 2020. Four people were killed and 22 years were wounded when a convicted jihadist ran across the city center that opened, before he was eventually shot by the police.

Fannie Jasser, a journalist in the daily Nama newspaper, Chronin Zaitong, told BBC News that the school is likely to be not ready for the possibility of an attack.

“We do not live in America, we live in Austria, which looks like a very safe space.”