Central Europe Correspondent
Austria has held a minute of silence for 10 folks killed in a college capturing, after hundreds gathered for a candlelight vigil for the victims on Tuesday night.
Police stated the 21-year-old suspect, a former scholar, took his personal life in a college toilet shortly after the gun assault in Graz on Tuesday – the deadliest within the nation’s current historical past.
In a press release on Wednesday, police stated they discovered a “farewell letter” and a non-functional pipe bomb throughout a search of the suspect’s dwelling. Authorities haven’t confirmed the gunman’s motive.
The incident, which left an additional 12 folks injured, happened at Dreierschützengasse secondary college within the north-west of the town.
Six females and three males had been killed within the assault, and a seventh feminine died later in hospital. Austria’s APA information company has reported that seven of these killed had been pupils.
Three days of mourning have been declared in Austria, and a nationwide minute’s silence was held on Wednesday at 10:00 native time in reminiscence of the victims. The Austrian flag has been lowered to half-mast on all public buildings.
After the minute’s silence in Graz’s essential sq., one lady, Tores, informed BBC Information that she knew one of many boys who had died. He was 17.
“I’ve know this household for a very long time, together with the son of the household, and knew that he attended that college. I rang instantly, to ask if every part is OK. Then they let me know at noon, that the boy was a kind of slaughtered,” she stated.
“What occurred yesterday is totally terrible, the entire of Austria is in mourning,” she stated. “That is horrible for the entire of Austria.”
On the vigil on Tuesday night time, Graz residents stated they needed to show the town’s essential sq. right into a sea of candles, and that’s what they did.
Within the whispering silence, hundreds of principally younger folks gathered over the course of the night, alone or clutching the arms or shoulders of their mates. They lit candles, cried, or stood for some time in prayer or contemplation.
Then they slowly got here ahead at hand candles to volunteers who organized them fastidiously on the steps of the fountain.
The Archduke Johann fountain is named the guts of the outdated city of Graz, in entrance of the town corridor. On Tuesday night time it turned a logo of the grief, and solidarity, of the folks of Austria.
“Once you hear about it, you might have a lot sympathy for the folks, perhaps you would have recognized somebody,” Felix Platzer, a passerby on the vigil, informed the Reuters information company.
“That is an instance of solidarity and also you grieve collectively and collectively it’s simpler to manage,” he added.
The varsity the place the assault happened will stay closed till additional discover.
Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker stated Tuesday was a “darkish day in [the] historical past of our nation” and declared the capturing a “nationwide tragedy”.
“A college is greater than only a place to be taught – it’s a house for belief, for feeling comfy and for having a future,” he informed the convention, including this secure place had been “violated”.
“In these troublesome hours, being human is our strongest level,” he stated.
The assault “strikes our nation proper at its coronary heart”, Stocker stated within the instant aftermath.
“These had been younger individuals who had their entire lives forward of them.”
Gunman was former scholar
The gunman, who has not but been named, was a former Dreierschützengasse scholar who did not graduate from the college, Inside Minister Gerhard Karner informed a information convention on Tuesday afternoon.
Karner added it was now the job of the felony workplace to analyze.
Officers additionally confirmed the gunman was not recognized to police earlier than the assault.
Present info suggests the shooter legally owned the 2 weapons used within the assault and had a firearms licence, police added.
Native media retailers have reported the suspect used a pistol and a shotgun to hold out the capturing.
He was an Austrian man from the broader Graz area who acted alone, police stated.
Police stated they started an operation at 10:00 native time (09:00 BST) after gunshots had been heard from inside the college.
A specialist Cobra tactical unit – which handles assaults and hostage conditions – was deployed to the college, police stated.
Authorities evacuated all pupils and academics from the constructing. Police confirmed the college had been secured and there was no additional hazard posed to members of the general public.
“Domestically, we’ve got seen folks crying on the streets, speaking to mates which have been on the college when the capturing occurred, who’ve perhaps misplaced a good friend,” stated Fanny Gasser, a journalist for the Austrian every day newspaper Kronen Zeitung.
She informed BBC Information “everyone is aware of someone” on the college as a result of Graz – regardless of being the second-largest metropolis in Austria – is “not that large”.
She stated the college was seemingly unprepared for the potential for an assault. “We aren’t residing in America, we live in Austria, which looks as if a really secure house.”
Native mayor Elke Kahr known as the incident a “horrible tragedy”.
European Fee Vice-President Kaja Kallas stated she was “deeply shocked” by the information. “Each youngster ought to really feel secure at college and be capable to be taught free from concern and violence,” she posted on X.
Witnesses heard gunshots
Astrid, a girl residing along with her husband Franz within the floor flooring flat of the residential constructing subsequent to the college, informed the BBC she had simply completed hanging out the washing when she heard gunfire.
She stated: “I heard photographs. Plenty of them, one after the opposite. ‘Poof… poof… poof…. poof… poof…’ many times. I went into the flat to my husband and I informed him: ‘Somebody is capturing!’
“He thought it was perhaps one thing else, however we heard I reckon 30 to 40 photographs. Then my husband rang the police.”
“We noticed one pupil on the window – it appeared like he was on the point of soar out… however then he went again inside,” Franz stated, including additionally they noticed a trainer.
The pair later noticed the scholars had “acquired out of the college on the bottom flooring, from the opposite facet” the place they “gathered on the road”, Franz stated.
Queues to present blood
By Tuesday afternoon, lengthy queues had fashioned exterior a blood donation centre in Graz.
“At this time is a tough day for all of us in Graz. I am right here to [donate] my blood to assist different individuals who want it,” 25-year-old Stephanie Koenig informed Reuters information company.
“At this time I am right here as a result of I needed to do one thing. I felt helpless with the information,” Johanna, 30, stated.
One other particular person standing in line informed Reuters giving blood felt just like the “solely method potential to assist”.
