Former student kills at least nine people in a shooting at a school in the Austrian city of Graz.

At least nine people have died this Tuesday in a shooting at a school in the city of Graz, in southern Austria. The alarm was raised at 10:00 AM at the police headquarters with calls reporting gunshots and screams at an institute, as confirmed by the police. The assailant, a 21-year-old Austrian national, took his own life in a bathroom of the center after shooting at students and teachers. According to Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, he was a former student who did not complete his training. The motives that may have led the young man, who had no prior criminal record, to attack his former school are still under investigation. The scale of this attack in a school is unprecedented in the country.

The victims, whose ages have not yet been disclosed, include six women and three men. The mayor of the municipality, Elke Kahr (KPÖ, the German acronym for the Communist Party of Austria), stated before this information was confirmed by the police that most of the deceased are students, with at least one adult. Additionally, at least 12 people have suffered injuries. “It is a terrible tragedy,” Kahr expressed at the scene.

The assailant lived in the area around the city of Graz and had two firearms—according to various media, a shotgun and a pistol—both of which, according to initial reports, were legally acquired.

Since 10:00 AM, after receiving the first reports of gunfire, Austrian police and special forces from the Cobra unit have conducted a large operation around the institute, the secondary education center in Dreierschützengasse, in the Lend district.

According to information from the Styrian entity that encompasses the hospitals in the area, at least 12 people—teenagers, according to the police—are being treated. Two victims are in “critical” condition, and five others are suffering from serious injuries.

Following the incident, the police have asked citizens not to approach the area. At least 300 officers have been deployed and are now in control of the premises, which was evacuated after the shooting, and do not foresee any further dangers. A crisis response team and the Red Cross are assisting students, who have been relocated to the Helmut List convention center, along with the parents of the affected students. The Red Cross has already organized psychological support teams for those affected by the attack.

The mayor has stated in remarks to the media at the scene that classes should not resume this week, but that students, teachers, and parents should be able to meet. “We must give time to process it,” Kahr affirmed.

The Graz attack is the largest of its kind that Austria has experienced. According to the newspaper Der Standard, in 2018 a young man of about 18 years old shot another at a school in Mistelbach (Upper Austria), and in 1997 a 15-year-old student killed a teacher and seriously injured another in Zöbern (Lower Austria); in 1993, a 13-year-old student seriously injured the principal of a school in Hausleiten (in the same region).

Austrian Chancellor, the conservative Christian Stocker, has described the incident as “a national tragedy that deeply shocks the country.” “This inconceivable act has abruptly taken young lives that lay ahead. There are no words for the pain and sorrow that we all, all of Austria, feel at this moment.”

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen has also expressed his dismay at what happened: “This horror cannot be expressed in words. What occurred today in a school in Graz strikes at the heart of our country.” “And in this hour we are together (…). Today and in the difficult days to come, our country will show that our strength lies in this unity,” added the head of state.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has stated on social media that her thoughts are “with the victims, their families, and friends.” “Schools are symbols of youth, hope, and the future. It is hard to bear when schools become places of death and violence,” she added.

This incident occurs on the tenth anniversary of the death of three people run down by an SUV in the same city. Among the victims was a four-year-old child. The driver of the crash had mental health issues. Graz, in the province of Styria, with 300,000 inhabitants, is the second most populated city in Austria. Around 50,000 of its residents are students.