JOSÉ HENRIQUE MARIANTE
Berlin, Germany (Folhapress)-An attack on a public high school in the city of Graz, left at least ten dead on Tuesday morning (10). The gunman killed himself. The mayor of the city, Elke Kahr, told APA agency that he had been a student of the institution, shot in colleagues and teachers, and then committed suicide. “A terrible tragedy.”
Initially, police reported nine killed by the aggressor, and a victim died in the hospital, according to the Austrian media. There are dozens of injuries, some in serious condition. The region’s hospitals are crowded, with at least 12 hospitalizations related to the confirmed episode. According to local press, this is probably the worst attack of its kind ever in the European country.
More than 300 police officers were called after shots were heard around 10 am local (5 am from Brasilia) at the school attended by students over 14 years. Police and ambulances arrived in minutes, and the authorities isolated the institution. Relatives of the victims and students received assistance, according to the authorities.
In a press conference hours after the attack, police and interior minister Gerhard Karner confirmed that the shooter was 21, had studied at the institution and committed suicide. The name was not disclosed. The Austrian government decreed three days of official mourning, and public events in the state of Estya, of which Graz is the capital, were canceled.
He would have used a pistol and a shotgun, regular weapons that would be owned by him. Police have emptied the scene and said that so far, he works with the hypothesis of a single person involved in the attack. He was not known to the authorities.
The Austrian newspaper Kronen-Zeitung said police found a farewell letter from the shooter during a search in his home. The newspaper, however, did not disclose the content of the note, and the police did not comment.
Videos published on social networks show people in the classroom listening to fire and students being driven outside the school building. A channel is opened to collect the material and two information centers were set up to welcome students, parents and guardians.
Borg (designation for public high schools in Austria) of Dreierschützense, near the Graz train station, brings together about 400 students from 14 years.
Austria Prime Minister Christian Stocker went to the city, along with the Interior Minister. In post, Stocker stated that “the massacre in a school in Graz is a national tragedy that deeply shakes our entire country. It is a dark time.”
Several European leaders have demonstrated solidarity, such as Ursula Von Der Leyen, president of the European Commission, Roberta Metsola, of the European Parliament, and Giorgia Meloni, Italian prime. The Brazilian government, in a statement published by Itamaraty, expressed “solidarity to the families of the victims, the people and the government of the Republic of Austria”.
Ten years ago, also in Graz, Austria’s second largest city, a 26 -year -old man drove a car against a crowd, killed three people and wounded dozens. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and killed himself in prison in 2023. There is no evidence that cases are related.
