Bangkok Post – Ten killed in Austrian school shooting

Shooter took his life in school restroom after killing nine people, police say

VIENNA — Ten people including the suspect are dead after a school shooting in the Austrian city of Graz, the news agency APA reported on Tuesday, citing Mayor Elke Kahr.

Many injured people had also been taken to hospital following the shooting, which Ms Kahr called a “terrible tragedy”.

The newspaper Kronen Zeitung said earlier that the death toll was at least eight and that at least 10 others had been seriously injured. Police gave no initial figures, saying only that “several” people were dead.

There were six female and three male victims, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said in a news conference later on Tuesday. It was not known how many of the victims were students.

The shooter, reported to have been a 21-year-old former pupil at the school, took his life in a school restroom, police said.

A local police spokesman said the area had been secured. People had been evacuated from the school and relatives of the victims and pupils were being cared for, he said.

“There is no further danger for the population, but there are several dead,” he told Austrian television.

Austria has one of the most heavily armed civilian populations in Europe, with an estimated 30 firearms per 100 persons, according to the Small Arms Surveyan independent research project.

Machine guns and pump action guns are banned, while ownership of revolvers, pistols and semi-automatic weapons is allowed only with official authorisation.

Rifles and shotguns are permitted with a firearms licence or a valid hunting licence, or for members of traditional shooting clubs.