At least nine people were killed on Tuesday morning in a shooting attack at a high school in the Austrian city of Graz. The police confirmed that a major operation was underway in the city.
Special forces intervention began at 10:00 local time after gunshots were heard in the Dreierschützengasse high school building in Graz, the police said, as reported by The Independent.
The Austrian Interior Ministry confirmed that several people were killed in the shooting at Dreierschützengasse high school, but did not mention the number of victims, according to the BBC.
The city's mayor, Elke Kahr, however, told the Austrian news agency APA that "nine people were killed, seven of the victims being students."
According to ORF, the attacker is a student. He opened fire in two classrooms and then committed suicide, but it is not clear if he was included in the death toll.
A video recording with unverified gunshots has surfaced on social media:
The husband of a teacher who barricaded herself in the classroom with her students revealed to the Krone newspaper that his wife heard multiple gunshots. Parents of fleeing students were allowed to see their children, while injured students are being cared for in the nearby Helmut List room.
A local shopkeeper, who preferred not to be named, told The Independent that there is "police everywhere" in the area, while Austrian television reporters are shocked by the event: "It is extremely unusual in Austria, we usually report on such things in the USA or elsewhere," one of them said, according to The Guardian.
Police reported that they intervened on Dreierschuetzengasse street, where a high school is located. The building was checked by special forces, and passersby were warned to avoid the area. The police later announced that there was no longer any danger.
The shootings took place shortly before the tenth anniversary of the Graz shooting on June 20, 2015, which resulted in the deaths of three people in an attack that marked the local community for years, as noted by the British daily newspaper.
Graz is the second largest city in Austria, with approximately 300,000 inhabitants, and is located about 200 km from Vienna.