Reuters
Austrian authorities were searching on Wednesday for answers to why a 21-year-old gunman shot dead 10 people in a rampage at his former high school before killing himself, one of the worst outbreaks of violence in the country's modern history.
Police said the man, armed with a shotgun and a pistol, acted alone. They are scouring his home and the internet for clues to why he opened fire on the school in Austria's second city of Graz on Tuesday, before shooting himself in a bathroom.
The incident was hard to properly take in, said a religious studies teacher at the school, Paul Nitsche, who left his classroom before the gunman tried to enter, and briefly saw him trying to shoot the lock off another door.
"This is something I couldn't even imagine before," he told national broadcaster ORF. "That's what the situation was like as I ran down the stairwell. I thought to myself: 'This wasn't real.'"
Some Austrian media have said the young man, who has not been identified, apparently felt bullied, though police have yet to confirm this. Austrian authorities said the suspect never completed his studies at the school.
He left a farewell note that did not reveal the motive for the attack, police said, adding that a pipe bomb found at his home was not functional.
Franz Ruf, director general of public security, said investigations into the motive were moving swiftly.
"We don't want to speculate at this point," he told ORF on Tuesday night.
Police said the guns used were in the suspect's possession legally, and Ruf said that while Austrian gun laws are strict, the case was being looked into. "If there are any loopholes, they need to be closed," he said.
Police said the man, armed with a shotgun and a pistol, acted alone. They are scouring his home and the internet for clues to why he opened fire on the school in Austria's second city of Graz on Tuesday, before shooting himself in a bathroom.
The incident was hard to properly take in, said a religious studies teacher at the school, Paul Nitsche, who left his classroom before the gunman tried to enter, and briefly saw him trying to shoot the lock off another door.
"This is something I couldn't even imagine before," he told national broadcaster ORF. "That's what the situation was like as I ran down the stairwell. I thought to myself: 'This wasn't real.'"
Some Austrian media have said the young man, who has not been identified, apparently felt bullied, though police have yet to confirm this. Austrian authorities said the suspect never completed his studies at the school.
He left a farewell note that did not reveal the motive for the attack, police said, adding that a pipe bomb found at his home was not functional.
Franz Ruf, director general of public security, said investigations into the motive were moving swiftly.
"We don't want to speculate at this point," he told ORF on Tuesday night.
Police said the guns used were in the suspect's possession legally, and Ruf said that while Austrian gun laws are strict, the case was being looked into. "If there are any loopholes, they need to be closed," he said.