10 killed in Austrian school shooting

A gunman killed at least nine people at a secondary school in the southern Austrian city of Graz yesterday, in the worst school shooting in the country's modern history.

Police said the attacker also died and that they were working on the assumption that he had operated alone. National broadcaster ORF said about 30 people were wounded. Austrian media reported that most of the dead were pupils at the school.

Police did not publicly identify the killer, but Austrian media cited unconfirmed reports saying he was a former pupil who had entered the school and opened fire on pupils.

"The rampage at a school in Graz is a national tragedy that has deeply shaken our entire country," Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said in a statement.

"There are no words for the pain and grief that we all - all of Austria - are feeling right now."

At the scene, police had set up a perimeter a few hundred meters away from the school, barring access routes with police cars.