School Shooting in Austria Leaves at Least Nine Dead

How many times have you been told mass shootings are a “uniquely American” thing?

Probably a lot. Many people seem to believe that, and most of those feel no qualms about saying it over and over again. Yet the truth is that they’re not. Especially not as most people think of them. 

Over the years, I’ve written about numerous examples of mass shootings in other countries. It was never comprehensive–war atrocities and crime-related massacres, for example, aren’t the same thing in my mind–but I’ve written about them.

Today, I’m unfortunately writing about one more in the Austrian city of Graz.

Several students and at least one adult, as well as the suspected shooter, were among the dead, Elke Kahr confirmed.

Calling it a “terrible tragedy”, the mayor said that many injured had been taken to hospital.

The perpetrator, who acted alone, has been described by local media as a 22-year-old former student who had been a victim of bullying at the school.

The city’s mayor, Elke Kahr, reported that nine had been killed in what she called a “terrible tragedy”, revising an earlier reported death toll of ten.

Gunshots and screams have been heard in footage filmed near the school that has been verified by The Telegraph.

Local media has reported that the suspected shooter was a student at the school. 

Police have not yet confirmed the exact number of casualties, however local media is reporting at least ten people were killed, including students and teachers. More than 10 people are said to be seriously injured.

A major police operation has been underway inside the school since gunshots were heard in the classrooms at 10am local time (9am BST) on Tuesday morning.

Footage showed dozens of police cars and ambulances racing to the scene. The public has been asked to avoid the area.

The alleged perpetrator is believed to have killed himself, police said.

Now, this seems to still be a developing situation as I write this, so who knows what the final tally will be, but it’s still a tragedy just the same.

Austria, as is the usual throughout the European Union, has a lot of gun control laws on the books. They’re not as terrible as some European gun laws go, mind you, but they’re not exactly the kind of measures that fly in the American Deep South, either.

Permitting is required for any firearm, with a good reason needing to be provided–though, unlike some states pre-Bruen, self-defense is considered a good reason–and different kinds of guns require different kinds of licenses. Of course, a carry permit, which is also a shall-issue thing, trumps all other licenses, apparently.

They do have mandatory storage laws, though, which we’re told prevent this sort of thing from happening, especially if the killer does turn out to be a student. That wouldn’t be surprising, either, since many school shooters are students themselves.

So we’ve got extensive gun control laws beyond what would be tolerated in most places in the United States, and we’ve got nine dead and 10 others seriously injured, with no mention of more minor injuries.

It’s like gun control failed once again.

In fairness, I’m sure we’ll learn more in the coming days about what happened, including exactly who the killer is, and we’ll be able to examine what happened more in-depth.

Until then, my thoughts and prayers are with all of the victims and their families.