ReutersDeserted plans for a bomb assault have been discovered on the residence of the suspected gunman in a faculty capturing in Austria, police have stated.
Police within the south-eastern metropolis of Graz additionally discovered a non-functional pipe bomb, and a “farewell” letter and video through the search, they stated in an announcement.
Ten folks have been killed within the assault on the secondary faculty on Tuesday – the deadliest within the nation’s current historical past.
The suspect, a 21-year-old former scholar on the faculty, took his personal life in a faculty rest room shortly after the assault, in accordance with police. Authorities haven’t but drawn any conclusions on the gunman’s doable motive.
The incident, which left an extra 11 folks injured, occurred at Dreierschützengasse secondary faculty within the north-west of town.
Six females and three males have been killed within the assault, and a seventh feminine later died in hospital.
The victims have been a instructor and 9 college students aged between 14 and 17, police stated. All have been Austrian residents, apart from one who was Polish.
Police stated the suspect was born in Styria – the area by which Graz sits – and lived together with his single mom, who was additionally Austrian, within the Graz-Umgebung District.
They added that his father, of Armenian origin, had not lived with them since his dad and mom’ separation.
Present info suggests the shooter legally owned the 2 weapons used within the assault – a pistol and a shotgun – and had a firearms licence, police stated. They added that the weapons could be forensically examined.
The gunman, who has not but been named, didn’t graduate from the varsity, Inside Minister Gerhard Karner informed a information convention earlier. He was not identified to the authorities previous to the assault, police additionally confirmed.
Evaluation of proof and knowledge storage units will proceed over the approaching weeks and a whole lot of individuals shall be interviewed, they stated.
The incident could be reconstructed to make clear how occasions unfolded, police added.
They stated police first arrived on the faculty six minutes after the primary emergency name was made at 10:00 on Tuesday, with a fast response unit and specialist Cobra tactical unit – which handles assaults and hostage conditions – arriving by 10:17.
Styrian police stated this fast response “seems to have saved a number of lives”.
Police have elevated safety measures round colleges within the metropolis since.
Three days of mourning have been declared in Austria following the assault, and a nationwide minute’s silence was held on Wednesday at 10:00 native time (08:00 GMT) in reminiscence of the victims. The Austrian flag has been lowered to half-mast on all public buildings.
After the minute’s silence in Graz’s major sq., one lady, Tores, informed BBC Information that she knew one of many boys who had died. He was 17.
“I’ve know this household for a very long time, together with the son of the household, and knew that he attended that faculty. I rang instantly, to ask if every little thing is OK. Then they let me know at noon, that the boy was a kind of slaughtered,” she stated.
The incident is the deadliest mass capturing in Austria’s current historical past.
In 2020, jihadist gunman Kujtim Fejzulai shot 4 folks useless and wounded 23 others on a rampage by Vienna’s busy nightlife district.
In the meantime, in 2016, a gunman opened fireplace at a live performance within the city of Nenzing, killing two folks earlier than capturing himself useless. Eleven different folks have been injured within the assault.
