There was no immediate information on the motive of the 21-year-old man, who had no previous police record. He used two weapons, which he was believed to have owned legally, police said. “Today is a dark day in the history of our country,” Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker told reporters in Graz, a city of about 300,000 people in southeastern Austria. He called it “a national tragedy that shocks us deeply” and said there would be three days of national mourning, with the Austrian flag lowered to half-staff at official buildings. A national minute of silence is to be held on Wednesday morning in memory of the victims.

Special forces were among those sent to the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school, about a kilometre (over half a mile) from Graz’s historic centre, after calls at 10 a.m. reporting shots at the building. More than 300 police officers were sent to the school, which was evacuated. Footage from the scene showed students filing out quickly past armed officers. Police said security was restored in 17 minutes. The assailant, who acted alone, was a 21-year-old Austrian man who lived near Graz, police said. His name wasn’t released. Regional police chief Gerald Ortner said two firearms – a long gun and a handgun – were used in the shooting and recovered from the scene, and that the assailant was apparently legally in possession of them. The man took his own life in a bathroom. (Jamaica Gleaner)