Ten killed in Austria school shooting - with one teenager spared because he was off sick

Interior minister Gerhard Karner said earlier that a further 12 people were injured in the shooting at the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school in Austria's second-biggest city.

He gave the figure before it was confirmed that a person in hospital with life-threatening injuries had become the 10th person to die. It is not clear if this reduces the number of those injured to 11.

The interior minister also said the suspect was a former pupil of the school who didn't finish his studies.

Police have confirmed that the 21-year-old Austrian gunman was found dead in the toilets of the school after the shootings and was operating alone.

When 'M' - a 16-year-old student - saw mentions of a school shooting on his phone, he assumed it was yet another tragedy in the US.

But it couldn't have been closer to home. Three students in his class had been killed - his own cousin had been shot in the shoulder.

M only escaped the carnage because he was off school sick.

After the terror and panic of Tuesday morning, an eerie calm has settled over these streets. People stand in silence staring past the wire fence that guards the school - through the windows you can see the still-lit corridors; a handful of police officers standing guard outside the main entrance.

There are, no doubt, many more police inside the school - out of our view, still gathering evidence - trying to answer the question that's on everyone's minds: why?

Why did a former student take two guns - seemingly legally owned - into his former classrooms, and open fire?

It's reported a 'farewell letter' was found by authorities at the gunman's home. But can that really provide answers to such a senseless loss of young life?

M knows he will never feel secure walking through these corridors again, in a school and town he said was always quiet and safe.

Austria has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in Europe, but mass shootings have been - before Tuesday - extremely rare.

A national conversation about its gun laws and ownership loopholes must surely follow these coming days of national mourning.

Authorities say the suspect had two weapons - reported to be a shotgun and a pistol - which he appeared to have owned legally.

A gun expert told Austrian national broadcaster ORF that shotguns could easily be bought in the country once someone turns 18, while purchasing pistols required the buyer to undergo a psychological evaluation.

Police have said they did not have information about his possible motive.

Footage shared online revealed how gunshots and screaming could be heard after the suspect entered the school before opening fire.

French education minister Elisabeth Borne has said that one of those who died was a "young fellow citizen" of France.

It came as the mother of a child who survived the shooting retold the distressing moment she received a phone call from her son.

"My son called me to say he was in school and that he was being shot and that he thought he was going to die," she said.

She only found out two hours later that he was still alive.

Special forces were among those sent to the school, just under a mile from Graz's historic centre, after a call at 10am local time (9am UK time) on Tuesday.

About an hour and half later, police wrote on X that the school had been evacuated and everyone had been taken to a safe meeting point.

Police deployed in large numbers, with emergency vehicles guarding the area around the school and with at least one police helicopter flying above.

Graz is located in the southeast of the country and about 300,000 people live there.

A 'dark day'

Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said there would be three days of national mourning, with the Austrian flag lowered to half-mast and a national minute of mourning at 10am on Wednesday.

He said that it was "a dark day in the history of our country".

President Alexander Van der Bellen said that "this horror cannot be captured in words".

"These were young people who had their whole lives ahead of them. A teacher who accompanied them on their way," he said.

Well-wishers later lit candles and placed them in the main square in Graz city centre on Tuesday night as a tribute to the shooting victims.

People were seen quietly reflecting as the city tried to come to terms with the deadly attack.

The school where the attack took place had earlier posted a message on Instagram following the tragedy.

The message is written in German, the official language of Austria, and translates in English to: "It was a really terrible day that deeply impacted and affected us all.

"Let us continue to stand together as a school community and support one another.

"Your teachers and your principal."

-SKY NEWS