Austria mourns mass school shooting as bomb found at suspect's home

Austria mourns mass school shooting as bomb found at suspect's home

Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker (R) declared three days of national mourning

Austria began three days of mourning Wednesday for the 10 people killed in a school shooting as investigators revealed they found a makeshift bomb at the home of the suspect.

The 21-year-old former pupil at the Dreierschuetzengasse secondary school in the second city of Graz shot dead 10 people on Tuesday in an unprecedented rampage that stunned the Alpine country.

Police said that he acted alone and took his own life in the toilet at the school.

A "non-functional homemade bomb" was also found during a search at the suspect's home, police said Wednesday.

They also found a goodbye letter to the suspect's parents, but it included no clues about his motive.

Locals hugged each other and cried as they left flowers, candles and letters to the victims outside the city centre school, which has around 400 students aged between 14 and 18.

"It is truly shocking... We will always think back on this," Mariam Fayz, a 22-year-old student, said, adding that she feared for younger brother when she heard the news.

Chancellor Christian Stocker -- who described the shooting as "a national tragedy" -- announced three days of national mourning, while a minute's silence was observed across the country at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) on Wednesday.

Nine victims were immediately confirmed and a woman died later in hospital from her wounds, an official said. A 17-year-old French student was among the victims, his father told AFP.

Twelve people suffered serious injuries.

- 'Shocked' -

Police said the alleged perpetrator was an Austrian from the Graz region who used two legally owned weapons.

He was a former pupil at the secondary school, but never finished his studies there, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told reporters.

Some Austrian media claimed that the suspect had been bullied, while television stations discussed the ease with which Austrians can acquire firearms and the number in circulation in the country.

Ennio, a student at the school, told AFP Wednesday that "there are stories from classmates who were often harassed, and in a situation like this, it's indescribably difficult.

"We ask that we be left in peace today so that we can mourn together and try to understand the situation."

One resident, originally from the United States, whose children attend a nearby primary school and nursery school, said she was "shocked".

"In my home country it happens more often as we know, but that it happens here is unheard of," she said, declining to give her name.

"Graz is a safe city," said Roman Klug, 55, who said he lived close to the school that he said was "known for its openness and diversity". 

- Rare attack -

Condolences poured in from across European leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Gun violence is rare in Austria, which is home to almost 9.2 million people and ranks among the 10 safest countries in the world, according to the Global Peace Index.

Europe has been shaken by attacks at schools and universities in recent years that were not connected to terrorism, although they are still less common than in the United States. 

In France, a teaching assistant was killed in a knife attack at a school in the eastern town of Nogent on Tuesday.

In January, an 18-year-old man fatally stabbed a secondary school pupil and a teacher in northeastern Slovakia.

And in December, a 19-year-old man stabbed to death a seven-year-old pupil and injured several others at a primary school in Zagreb, Croatia.

In December 2023, an attack by a student at a university in central Prague left 14 people dead and 25 injured.

A few months earlier, a 13-year-old gunned down nine fellow classmates and a security guard at a primary school in Belgrade. 

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Originally published as Austria mourns mass school shooting as bomb found at suspect's home