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Several hundred people attended a mass after a former student opened fire at a school in Austria’s second-biggest city – Graz – on Tuesday, killing 10 people and injuring many others before taking his own life, according to authorities.
There was no immediate information on the motive of the 21-year-old man, who had no previous police records. Two weapons were used to execute the attack, which the attacker is believed to have owned legally, police said.
Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker as well as Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler and Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger attended the mass at Graz Cathedral.
“It shocked me a lot like everybody else,” said local resident Elisabeth Schuster.
Thinking of the victims and their loved ones, Schuster came to the mass to show her solidarity.
“I’m with them, feel for them. And I hope that together we can find a way, so that something like this never happens again,” she added.
Special forces were among those sent as part of the first response team to the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school, about a kilometre from Graz’s historic centre, after calls at 10 am local time reporting shots at the building.
More than 300 police officers were also deployed to the scene, who helped evacuate students from the school. Footage from the scene showed students filing out quickly past armed officers. Police said security was restored in 17 minutes.
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said the gunman had been a student at the school and hadn’t completed his studies.
People also gathered for a candle lit vigil in Graz’s main square to mourn the victims of the fatal attack.
Footage showed dozens of the city’s residents in attendance for the event to mark what has become one of the most violent attacks in the city’s recent memory.
Additional sources • AP