‘I always felt very protected there’: Austria grapples with rare school shooting

Austria fell silent for a minute on June 11 and people laid candles in the city of Graz in memory of the 10 people killed in a school shooting that shocked the country. The nation has declared three days of national mourning following what appears to be the deadliest attack in its post-World War II history on June 10 at the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school.

Hundreds of people lined the central square in Graz, Austria’s second-biggest city. Some laid more candles and flowers in front of the city hall, adding to a growing memorial to the victims. The first candles were laid on the evening of the attack as a crowd gathered on the square, some people hugging each other as they tried to come to terms with the tragedy. Hundreds of people joined Austrian officials at a service Tuesday evening in the Graz cathedral.

Nine students were killed – six girls and three boys aged between 14 and 17, one of whom had Polish citizenship – as well as a teacher, police said. Another 11 people were wounded. The attacker took his own life.

Among those on the square Wednesday was Chiara Komlenic, an art history student who finished her exams at the high school.

“I always felt very protected there. The teachers were also very supportive,” she said. “I made lifelong friendships there. It just hurts to see that young girls and boys will never come back, that they experienced the worst day of their lives where I had the best time of my life. I still know a few teachers, it just hurts a lot.”

In the capital, Vienna, the local transport authority had trams, subway trains, and buses stop for a minute.

The 21-year-old Austrian shooter, who lived near Graz with his mother, was a former student at the school who hadn’t completed his studies. Police have said that he used two weapons, a shotgun and a pistol, which he owned legally.

Investigators said they found a farewell letter and video, a non-functional pipe bomb, and abandoned plans for a bombing during a search of the assailant’s home near Graz. But they said they don’t yet know what his motive was. They didn’t elaborate on those findings in a post on social network X Wednesday, other than to say they haven’t yet been able to draw conclusions.

“A farewell letter in analog and digital form was found,” Franz Ruf, the public security director at Austria’s Interior Ministry, told ORF public television Tuesday night. “He says goodbye to his parents. But no motive can be inferred from the farewell letter, and that is a matter for further investigations.”

Asked whether the assailant had attacked victims randomly or targeted them specifically, Mr. Ruf said that is also under investigation and he didn’t want to speculate.

By Wednesday morning, the authority that runs hospitals in Graz said that all patients were in stable condition. Nine were still in intensive care units. Police said none of their lives were in danger and that the wounded people were aged between 15 and 26. Two are Romanian nationals, and one is an Iranian citizen.

Austria’s press upholds ethics during violent news events

Police didn’t release any details about the victims other than their age, gender, and nationality, in line with the country’s strict privacy rules.

The press council, a voluntary self-regulatory body for Austrian media that aims to uphold ethical principles and standards of journalism, argues that journalistic restraint is needed during breaking news about attacks because the publication of the victims’ personal details or pictures could cause additional trauma for the families.

In addition to protecting those affected by the tragedy, there’s also concern about those who consume news about horrific events, especially children, says Claudia Paganini, an expert of media ethics at Austria’s University of Innsbruck.

Ms. Paganini said consuming news about violent attacks can cause trauma and emotional overload for individuals, as well as the brutalization of society in the long run.

“As opposed to the United States, where news are seen as a product and reporters are pushed to get all the details in order to raise the visibility of their news organization, journalism in northern Europe is seen as a service to society and to democracy that comes along with a lot of responsibility,” Ms. Paganini said.

The Austrian Press Council also reminded reporters to adhere to its media code, which specifically states that “in the case of children, the protection of privacy must take precedence over news value.”

Fabian Enzi, a university student among those who gathered on the main square Wednesday referenced the size of the city. “Graz is the second-largest city in Austria, but we still say that Graz is a village," he said. 

“Every time you are out, you meet people you know. There is a high chance that with such an attack you know people [who] are affected,” said Mr. Enzi. “There are a lot of desperate faces.”

This story was reported by The Associated Press. Reporting by AP writers Kirsten Grieshaber and David Bauder was included in this report.