Graz [Austria], June 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 also confirmed 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. He was an Austrian man from the wider Graz region who acted alone, police said.
Three days of mourning have been declared in Austria, and a nationwide minute's silence will be held on Wednesday at 10am local time in memory of the victims. Flags on the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, where the 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".
"A school is more than just a place to learn - it is a space for trust, for feeling comfortable and for having a future," he told the conference, adding this safe place had been "violated".
"In these difficult hours, being human is our strongest point," he said.
Austria's APA news agency has reported that seven of those killed were pupils.
The attack "strikes our country right at its heart", Stocker said in the immediate aftermath.
"These were young people who had their whole lives ahead of them." Police said they began an operation at 10:00 local time (09:00 BST) after gunshots were heard from inside the school. A specialist Cobra tactical unit - which handles attacks and hostage situations - was deployed to the school, police said.
Source: Qatar Tribune