Elite police commandos storm building after shots ring out at 10am – with reports suggesting shooter was a student
Austria is reeling from one of its worst school shootings after at least eight people were killed when a gunman opened fire at a secondary school in the country’s second-largest city.
The bloodbath unfolded at BORG Dreierschützengasse High School in Graz on Tuesday morning, sending shockwaves through the normally peaceful Alpine nation.
Special forces were among those sent to the BORG Dreierschützengasse High School after a call at 10am local time, with terrified pupils and teachers barricading themselves inside classrooms as gunshots echoed through the corridors.
Austria’s Interior Ministry confirmed there were several fatalities but did not specify how many, while local newspaper Kronen Zeitung reported the death toll had reached eight people.
The drama began when Police said they deployed to the school after shots were heard there, triggering a massive emergency response that saw the area flooded with armed officers.
ELITE FORCES STORM SCHOOL
Austria’s crack Cobra special forces unit – the country’s equivalent of Britain’s SAS – was immediately deployed to the scene alongside regular police units.
Police said on social network X about an hour later that the deployment was still ongoing and that it involved a helicopter, as authorities worked frantically to secure the building and evacuate survivors.
Heart-stopping footage from the scene showed ambulances lining the streets as emergency crews prepared for mass casualties.
Those injured included students and teachers, who were taken to the nearby Helmut List Hall events space for emergency care, according to reports.
PARENTS’ AGONISING WAIT
In scenes of unimaginable anguish, A meeting point was set up for the students’ parents at the ASKÖ football stadium, where desperate families waited for news of their children.
By 11:30am local time, police said the situation was under control and that the school was evacuated and everyone there was taken to a safe meeting point.
The authorities later confirmed: “The situation is secure. No further danger is expected,” they announced on social media platform X.
SHOOTER’S IDENTITY MYSTERY
While officials have not released details about the perpetrator, The suspected perpetrator, considered to be a student at this stage, has killed himself, reports claim, according to state broadcaster ORF.
It was not immediately clear whether the suspected perpetrator was among those injured, with authorities remaining tight-lipped about the gunman’s identity or motive.
The attack has sent shockwaves through Austria, a country with relatively low levels of gun violence compared to other nations.
CITY IN LOCKDOWN
Graz, Austria’s second-biggest city, is located in the southeast of the country and has about 300,000 inhabitants.
The BORG Dreierschützengasse is a well-regarded secondary school in the northwest of the city, making the violence all the more shocking for the local community.
As news of the tragedy spread, authorities urged residents to avoid the area and follow instructions from security forces on the ground.
The shooting marks one of the deadliest attacks in recent Austrian history and is likely to reignite debates about school security and gun control in the Alpine nation.
Image credit: Ambulance Graz side by Haeferl, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
