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

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. 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. 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. Read more:What we know about the shooting so far 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.".