Austria is reeling after a deadly school shooting claimed ten lives in the southeastern city of Graz on Tuesday—a shocking act of violence in one of Europe’s safest nations.
Among the dead are several students, one adult, and the suspected shooter, local mayor Elke Kahr confirmed to Austria’s national press agency APA. The gunman’s identity and motive have not yet been released, and details remain sparse as police continue to secure the scene and investigate.
Police acknowledged the attack in a brief statement on X, formerly Twitter: “A police operation is underway… gunshots were heard in the building.” Authorities have yet to release a full casualty list or confirm whether any injured survivors remain in critical condition.
Images of police and ambulances near a school in southeastern Austria, where several people have died after a suspected shooter opened fire.
“This is a very unclear situation at the moment,” local police sources told APA.
The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, expressed deep concern. “Every child should feel safe at school and be able to learn free from fear and violence,” she said, calling the incident “a dark moment” for Austria.
Though school shootings remain rare in Europe compared to the United States, the continent has seen a worrying rise in such attacks over the last two years—most of them carried out by young, lone male attackers, and none linked to organized terror groups.
In January 2025, an 18-year-old fatally stabbed a student and a teacher at a school in Slovakia. Just a month earlier, in December 2024, a 19-year-old stabbed a seven-year-old child to death in Zagreb, Croatia.
The December 2023 shooting in Prague remains one of the deadliest in recent memory, when a university student killed 14 people and wounded 25 others. In Serbia, a 13-year-old opened fire on his classmates in Belgrade earlier that year, killing eight students and a security guard.
Austria, with a population of 9.2 million, consistently ranks among the world’s safest countries on the Global Peace Index. But Tuesday’s attack is a grim reminder that even societies regarded as peaceful are not immune to sudden acts of mass violence.
The Graz tragedy now joins a growing list of school attacks across Europe that continue to challenge long-held assumptions about safety in public learning spaces. Many are now questioning what safeguards—mental health supports, school security protocols, and firearms regulation—must be urgently reevaluated.
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