VIENNA (AP) – At least eight people died in a shooting at a school in Glaz, Austria on Tuesday, and the suspected perpetrator was also killed, the city mayor said.
Mayor Elke Carr described the incident as a “terrifying tragedy,” Austrian news agency reported. It added that the deaths were seven students and one adult. Carl said many people were injured and taken to hospital.
Police said they believe the assailant acted alone.
Special Forces are among those sent to Borg Dreischzsengas High School from about a kilometre (more than half a mile) from the Glaz History Center after calling at 11:30am, police write that the school was evacuated on social network X and that everyone was taken to a safe gathering point. They write that the situation is “safe” and is no longer considered dangerous.
Police and other emergency vehicles defended the area around the school, with at least one police helicopter flying over the area, according to photos published by local newspaper Kleine Zeitung.
Glaz, Austria’s second largest city, is located in the southeastern part of the country and has around 300,000 residents.
Austrian Prime Minister Christian Stocker, who is planning to go to Glaz, said the shooting was “a national tragedy that deeply shocks our nation.”
“What we all, Austria at present, are feeling is no words for pain and sadness,” he wrote in a statement posted to X.
“This fear cannot be captured in words,” President Alexander van der Belen said.
“These were young people who spent their whole life before them. The teachers who accompanied them along the way,” he said.
Home Minister Gerhard Kerner was also on his way to Glaz.
“Schools are a symbol of youth, hope and future,” European Commission President Ursula von der Reyen wrote to X:
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