Austria mourns 10 victims of 'abominable' school shooting

Austria mourns 10 victims of 'abominable' school shooting

Investigators found a goodbye letter addressed to the suspect's parents at his home, but it included no clues about his motive

Grieving Austrians on Wednesday held tearful memorials for the 10 people shot dead at a high school by a former pupil, an unprecedented attack in the Alpine nation.

Mourners cried, hugged and left flowers, candles and letters to the victims in churches and outside the school in Austria's second-largest city of Graz.

"Thank you, Hanna, for the 15 years I was able to spend with you," said Kenan, paying tribute to his sister at a memorial event on Wednesday evening.

"It's hard to believe that we have lost such a lively, energetic, brave, curious and helpful girl so early in life."

The government declared three days of mourning for the victims of Tuesday's shooting at the Dreierschuetzengasse secondary school, including a national moment of silence on Wednesday morning.

Church bells rang out across Austria as people stopped in the streets, radio and TV programmes were interrupted and public transport was halted. 

A teacher and nine teenagers, including a Franco-Austrian and a Polish national, aged between 14 and 17, were among the victims, Austrian press agency APA reported.

Of the eleven people wounded, nine were still in intensive care but in a stable condition on Wednesday, according to hospital officials.

Hundreds of people also rushed to donate blood, responding to a call from the Red Cross. 

"It is truly shocking," Mariam Fayz, a 22-year-old student, told AFP at a candle vigil. "We will always think back on this."

- 'Running for their lives' -

Religion teacher Paul Nitsche was in a classroom when he heard a bang followed by the sound of bullet casings hitting the floor of a corridor outside.

"Something snapped inside me, I jumped up, and decided to run," the evangelical pastor said. 

As he fled, he caught a glimpse of the shooter. "As I ran down the stairs, I thought to myself, 'This isn't real, this is a film.'"

At a memorial event on Wednesday, one student recalled the moment the children realised there was a shooter.

She said students were "running for their lives" as older children tried to protect the younger ones.

Police said the alleged perpetrator was an Austrian from the Graz region who used two legally owned weapons -- a shotgun and a pistol.

Media commentators highlighted how easy it is for Austrians to get firearms, and pointed to the relatively high number of weapons in circulation.

During a visit to Graz, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen said the country was still "in deep, deep shock" following the "abominable... horror we all experienced". 

"If we come to the conclusion that Austria's gun laws need to be changed to ensure greater safety, then we will do so," Van der Bellen told a memorial event.

The 21-year-old shooter was a former pupil at the secondary school, but never finished his studies there. He acted alone and took his own life in the school bathroom.

During a search at the suspect's home, police found a "non-functional" homemade bomb, a farewell letter as well as a video message addressed to his mother, none of which offered any clues about his motive.

Austrian newspapers ran headlines that read "Why?" and "It's horrific", with the daily Kurier opting for a front page all in black.

Condolences poured in from leaders across Europe, with Pope Leo XIV offering his "prayers for the victims of the tragedy" at his general audience on Wednesday.

bur-kym/jxb

Originally published as Austria mourns 10 victims of 'abominable' school shooting