Students and adults are among 10 victims who were killed after a gunman opened fire at a secondary school in the Austrian city of Graz.
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.
However Mr Karner 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 said the 21-year-old Austrian gunman was found dead in the toilets of the school after the shootings and was operating alone.
Image: A police officer makes a phone call in front of a school building after the shooting. Pic: AP
Image: Police officers at the scene. Pic: AP
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).
Around 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, Austria’s second-biggest city, is located in the southeast of the country and about 300,000 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 (9am BST).
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.
Image: Police officers stand guard near a school following a deadly school shooting in Graz, Austria.
Pic: Reuters
Image: Pic: AP
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.
A police officer has been injured after a night of violent protests outside an asylum hotel in Dublin – with six arrests made.
Bricks were thrown and fireworks were discharged outside the Citywest Hotel – with glass bottles used as missiles and a police van set on fire.
A Garda helicopter was also targeted with lasers, and the police service says some of those on the streets were seen carrying garden forks.
Image: Pic: PA
Image: Pic: PA
Commissioner Justin Kelly added: “This was obviously not a peaceful protest. The actions this evening can only be described as thuggery. This was a mob intent on violence.
“We will now begin the process of identifying those who committed crimes and we will bring those involved in this violence to justice.”
It is the second night of demonstrations after an alleged sexual assault in its vicinity in the early hours of Monday morning.
Some of the crowd threw stones and other missiles at the public order officers as they moved the protesters back – and water cannon was deployed at the scene.
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A line of officers was preventing the protesters from approaching the hotel.
Image: Police officers block protesters outside the hotel. Pic: PA
This protest felt different
There had been a small protest on Monday outside the former Citywest Hotel, now an asylum centre, but last night’s felt very different.
The 26-year-old man who allegedly attacked the young girl had appeared in court yesterday morning, charged with sexual assault. He can’t be named but an Arabic translator was requested. Anger grew online, and another protest was called.
It’s hard to get a clear estimate of numbers, partly due to the street geography around the former hotel, but it’s thought up to 2,000 attended. Most were peaceful, some were not. After a Garda van was torched, a major policing operation began.
The smell of fireworks hung in the air as youths hurled missiles at the Gardai. A Garda water cannon truck was deployed for the first time in the Republic of Ireland, parked visibly behind the riot officers.
I spoke to local residents who had reasonable concerns about the influx of asylum seekers to the community in recent years. Most did not approve of violent protest, but they articulated the anger and pain felt by many here after the attack on the young girl.
Although it has not been confirmed officially that the accused is an asylum seeker, most of the local residents had the same message: the enemy is not necessarily those who come to Ireland, rather it’s the perceived open-doors policy of the Irish government.
‘Those involved will be brought to justice’
Ireland’s premier, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, paid tribute to the officers who were on the frontline of the protests.
“There can be no justification for the vile abuse against them, or the attempted assaults and attacks on members of the force that will shock all right-thinking people,” he said.
Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan said those involved in the violence will be brought to justice.
“The scenes of public disorder we have witnessed at Citywest must be condemned,” he said.
“People threw missiles at Gardai, threw fireworks at them and set a Garda vehicle on fire.
“This is unacceptable and will result in a forceful response from the Gardai.
“Those involved will be brought to justice.”
‘No excuse’ for violence
The minister said a man had been arrested and had appeared in court in relation to the alleged assault in the vicinity of the hotel.
He added: “While I am not in a position to comment any further on this criminal investigation, I have been advised that there is no ongoing threat to public safety in the area.”
He said attacks on officers would “not be tolerated”, adding: “Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy. Violence is not.
“There is no excuse for the scenes we have witnessed.”
The demonstration on Monday night passed without a significant incident.
It comes two years after anti-immigrant demonstrators triggered a major riot in the centre of Dublin after three young children were stabbed.
A police van has been set on fire and missiles have been thrown at officers as protesters gathered outside a hotel used to house asylum seekers in Dublin.
It is the second night of demonstrations outside the Citywest Hotel after an alleged sexual assault in its vicinity in the early hours of Monday morning.
A large crowd has gathered in the area and members of the Garda’s public order unit have been deployed.
Footage from the scene showed a Garda vehicle on fire as well as several protesters displaying Irish flags.
Image: Many protesters carried Republic of Ireland flags
Some of the crowd threw stones and other missiles at the public order officers as they moved the protesters back.
A Garda helicopter hovered overhead and a water cannon was deployed on the scene.
Ireland’s justice minister, Jim O’Callaghan, said those involved will be brought to justice.
“The scenes of public disorder we have witnessed at Citywest tonight must be condemned,” he said.
“People threw missiles at Gardai, threw fireworks at them and set a Garda vehicle on fire.
“This is unacceptable and will result in a forceful response from the Gardai.
“Those involved will be brought to justice.”
The minister said a man had been arrested and had appeared in court in relation to the alleged assault in the vicinity of the hotel.
He added: “While I am not in a position to comment any further on this criminal investigation, I have been advised that there is no ongoing threat to public safety in the area.
He said attacks on gardai will “not be tolerated”, adding: “Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy. Violence is not.
“There is no excuse for the scenes we have witnessed tonight.”
It was the second night of protest outside the hotel, which is being used as state accommodation for people seeking international protection. The demonstration on Monday night passed without a significant incident.
It comes two years after anti-immigrant demonstrators triggered a major riot in the centre of Dublin after three young children were stabbed.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
The US leader suggested it was possible it could happen within a fortnight, though no date was set.
However, it appears that’s now off the table – and there are fears the meeting could be shelved altogether due to Russia‘s rigid stance on the Ukraine war.
The White House official, speaking to Sky’s US partner network NBC, said secretary of state Marco Rubio and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov had spoken on Tuesday.
The call was described as “productive” but the official added there was no plan for the presidents to meet “in the immediate future”.
The last Trump-Putin meeting was in Alaska in August, but it ended without any meaningful progress towards a ceasefire.
The Budapest plan was announced shortly before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled to Washington last Friday to try to get approval for long-range Tomahawk missiles.
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3:42
Why Tomahawks are off the table
Mr Zelenskyy accused the Russian leader of acting out of fear Ukraine could get the green light and the ability to hit targets far deeper into Russia.
In his nightly address on Tuesday, he said Russia “almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy” after it became clear Mr Trump had backed away from any decision on the Tomahawks.
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45:28
Professor Michael Clarke answers your questions on the Ukraine war.
Two US officials told Reuters that plans for the Budapest meeting had stalled over Russia’s insistence any peace deal must give it control of all of the Donbas region.
Those terms are said to have been reiterated over the weekend in a private communique known as a “no paper”.
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Ukraine and European nations issued a joint statement on Tuesday insisting “international borders must not be changed by force” and accusing Russia of “stalling tactics”.
But, in an apparent effort to keep the US leader onside, it added: “We strongly support President Trump’s position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations.”
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1:59
Trump: ‘We can end this war quickly’
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov gave the impression his country was in no rush to arrange another Trump-Putin meeting, saying on Tuesday “preparation is needed, serious preparation”.
Such talk is likely to increase concerns Russia does not want to stop fighting and is “playing” President Trump – all while continuing to launch drone barrages at Ukrainian cities.
Russia currently holds about a fifth of Ukraine after its invasion in February in 2022. It also annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014.
Meanwhile, NATO’s secretary general Mark Rutte is travelling to Washington to meet with President Trump on Wednesday.
He will “discuss various aspects related to NATO’s support to Ukraine and to the US-led efforts towards lasting peace”, an official for the alliance said.