The police announced that they found two important elements for the investigation during a search at the home of the author of the armed attack at a high school in Graz, resulting in 10 deaths. Authorities have not confirmed the attacker’s motive.
The police discovered a farewell letter and a non-functional homemade bomb in the house of the individual who opened fire on Tuesday at a high school in the Austrian city of Graz, killing 10 people and injuring 12 others. Additionally, it has been confirmed that the 21-year-old sent a farewell video recording to his mother before wreaking havoc at the school, as reported by Kronen Zeitung.
According to the letter and messages from his friends, it appears that he sought revenge because he did not pass his graduation exam, as reported by the Austrian newspaper.
Authorities have not provided more details, so it remains to be seen if these pieces of evidence can offer an answer to the most pressing question currently troubling Austrian society: why? Why did the attacker open fire and take so many young lives?
What is known so far
The police stated that they have no information on his possible motives.
Authorities say the suspect had two weapons - a rifle and a pistol, according to local media - which he legally owned. Austria has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in Europe, but mass shootings have been extremely rare, as noted by Sky News.
An arms expert told the Austrian national television station ORF that rifles can be easily purchased in the country at the age of 18, while acquiring pistols requires the buyer to undergo a psychological evaluation.
It is expected that after the national days of mourning, a national debate will take place regarding gun laws and shortcomings in their possession.
The 21-year-old attacker, a former student who did not graduate, committed suicide in the restroom of the Dreierschützengasse high school shortly after carrying out the deadliest shooting in recent Austrian history, the police declared.
The suspect, whose name has not been disclosed but is identified by the cited Austrian newspaper as Artur A., had no prior police records. He was an Austrian man from Graz and acted alone, as stated by the police.
Six women and three men were killed in the attack, and a seventh woman died later in the hospital. The Austrian news agency APA reported that seven of the victims were students.
The police announced that they initiated an operation on Tuesday at 10:00 local time after gunshots were heard from inside the high school. A specialized tactical unit Cobra - dealing with attacks and hostage situations - was dispatched to the school, the police stated.
Authorities evacuated all students and teachers from the building. The police confirmed that the school was secured and there was no longer any danger to citizens.
The deadliest mass shooting in Austrian history
Fanny Gasser, a journalist at Kronen Zeitung, told BBC that in the city, everyone knows someone from the high school where the massacre took place, as although it is the country's second-largest city, Graz "is not that big."
She mentioned that the school probably was not prepared for the possibility of an attack. "We do not live in America, we live in Austria, which seems to be a very safe space."
On Tuesday evening, there were lines at blood donation centers, and thousands of people from all over Austria held a candlelight vigil in memory of the victims of the armed attack.
The incident is the deadliest mass shooting in recent Austrian history.
In 2016, an armed man opened fire at a concert in the town of Nenzing, killing two people before fatally shooting himself. Another 11 people were injured in the attack.
In 2020, armed jihadist Kujtim Fejzulai fatally shot four people and injured 23 others in a shooting at Vienna.