A devastating school shooting in Graz, southeastern Austria, claimed the lives of ten individuals on Tuesday.
This include several students and at least one adult, according to the city’s mayor Elke Kahr, who spoke to the Austrian Press Agency (APA).
The tragic incident also reportedly included the suspected shooter among the dead.
School shootings are notably rare across Europe compared to the United States, but recent years have seen a disturbing rise in such violent events targeting educational institutions, often unrelated to terrorism.
Austrian police confirmed the attack via a post on X, formerly Twitter, stating:
“Currently, a police operation is underway… The reason for the deployment was that gunshots were heard in the building.”
Authorities from the police and the interior ministry were not immediately available for comment when contacted by AFP.
The APA quoted law enforcement sources as saying, “The situation is very unclear at the moment.”
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas expressed her dismay on social media:
“Every child should feel safe at school and be able to learn free from fear and violence,” she posted on X.
“My thoughts are with the victims, their families and the Austrian people in this dark moment.”
Austria, a country of around 9.2 million people nestled in the Alps, is typically regarded as one of the safest nations globally, consistently ranking among the top 10 in the Global Peace Index.
Despite this reputation, recent incidents across Europe have shattered the sense of security in schools.
In January 2025, a deadly knife attack in northeastern Slovakia left a teacher and student dead.
A month earlier, a 19-year-old in Zagreb, Croatia, fatally stabbed a seven-year-old and wounded multiple others in a primary school.
In December 2023, a student opened fire at a Prague university, killing 14 and injuring 25.
Just months earlier in Belgrade, Serbia, a 13-year-old shot eight classmates and a security officer, injuring six more and a teacher before surrendering to police.
Historically, one of Europe’s deadliest school shootings occurred in 2009 in Winnenden, southern Germany, where a former student killed nine pupils, three teachers, and three bystanders before taking his own life.