Graz: Austria fell silent for a minute on Wednesday and people laid candles in the city of Graz in memory of the 10 people killed in a school shooting that shocked the country.
Investigators said they found a farewell letter and video, a non-functional pipe bomb and abandoned plans for a bombing in a search of the assailant’s home near Graz. But they said they don’t yet know what his motive was.
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.
Austria has declared three days of national mourning following what appears to be the deadliest attack in its post-World War II history. At 10 am on Wednesday, marking the moment a day earlier when police were alerted to shots at the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school, the country stopped for a minute of silence.
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 Tuesday evening 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.
Among those on the square Wednesday was Chiara Komlenic, an art history student who finished her exams at the school there.