Austria gunman had become fascinated with school shootings, investigators say
Police have said the 21-year-old gunman planned last Tuesday's roughly seven-minute attack at the BORG Dreierschützengasse high school in Graz, which he left three years ago, down to the smallest detail. But much remains uncertain: among other things, why he chose that particular date and why he stopped shooting when he did.
After his body was found, investigators found that the shooter still had 24 bullets in two magazines and another 18 loose bullets for his Glock handgun, as well as 17 bullets for his shotgun, said Michael Lohnegger, the head of Styria province's criminal police office.
A few minutes before the shooting began, the gunman took a picture showing his legs and boots in a school bathroom and posted it to a social media account, Lohnegger said. Investigators are still working through some 30 other accounts attributed to him, created between 2019 and this year, to determine which are genuine.
They can 'say with certainty that, over the years, he developed a significant passion in general terms for the phenomenon of school shootings,' Lohnegger said. 'He glorifies not just the acts in general, but also the perpetrators who carried out these acts."
However, he said, police still have no information on his motive for the shooting.
Eleven people were wounded last week. As of Tuesday, two had been released from hospitals but nine were still being treated, two of whom were still in intensive care, Lohnegger said. Their lives were not in danger.
Chancellor Christian Stocker said Monday that Austria will tighten its gun laws, which are among the more liberal in the European Union. The gunman owned the two firearms he used legally.
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
'Government needs to get a grip': Southport residents say they STILL fear anti-migrant riots one year on from violence... and they aren't alone
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Janet McCormick, 62, remembers the riot well, living just doors away from the centre of it. Like many people interviewed, her eyes glaze over as she recalls the events of that night. 'It was a terrible time,' she says. 'The rioters were right outside my home, lighting fires and throwing bricks. 'It was terrifying for people living around here. No-one was sure what was going to happen and the police appeared to be outnumbered. 'It was a horrible thing to witness. I was angry last year at people for being so stupid that they believed every rumour they heard. 'I kept telling them they were being racist, that they should think for themselves but you could see what was driving them on. 'Sadly I do not think the Government has done enough to prevent another riot, not here but I can see it happening in other parts of the country. 'I think people think we should have someone waiting on the shore for the boats to arrive and have the power to send them straight back. 'People can't understand why that is not happening. It's no use telling us about human rights because this is affecting everyone. 'Illegal immigration is killing this country. It is putting a vast strain on the NHS and welfare and schools because too many people are coming into the country and we can't cope. 'I keep reading about how much money we are paying the French to stop asylum seekers crossing the Channel but the boats are still coming. 'Somebody has to address the problem. I don't want to see or read about another riot like we had in Southport but the Government must get a grip.' Businesswoman Kimberley Parker, 37, runs pet groomers Glad Wags just down from the mosque. Liberal in her views, she blamed the riot on 'bigotry and ignorance' and was particularly upset that the rioters targeted a hard-working Asian family who run a local shop doors away from her own. 'The thugs who raided their shop went for the alcohol and cigarettes and got away with more than £10,000,' she says. 'I was just very disappointed in my fellow human beings. The only good thing is that the riot brought his all closer together in Southport, especially around here. 'That was the one big positive to come out of it all. 'But the hard truth is that people will read and accept lies as the truth and I suppose that is because they want to. 'And we have to accept that people are now angry for all sorts of reasons and one of them I think is because they don't see the Government as very strong. It bends too easily. 'On the one hand we are getting misinformation from social media about the dangers of illegal immigration and on the other we are not getting enough information from the Government over how many immigrants are arriving here and what they intend to do about it. 'I don't think Starmer is being proactive enough. 'We need to sort out what is going on. For example, a lot of the people coming across on boats are losing their passports so they cannot be deported because no-one knows where they came from. 'That should be sorted immediately. If you don't have a passport you should be unable to claim asylum and that should be the hard and fast rule. 'The Government need to work with us to calm our fears. Of course people here are frightened of those from different cultures with backgrounds they don't know about. 'Starmer has to understand that and he has got to have a policy that we understand. 'I do hold liberal views but I do realise you cannot have uncontrolled immigration without it having a knock on effect on every part of out lives. 'I do fear there could be further riots in the country but I hope that there isn't. 'I think that since the riot last year we have become closer in Southport but I think what is going on in the rest of the country is a shambles. 'It appears to me that the Government is spending all its time papering over the cracks instead of facing up to problems and doing something about them.' Roofer Craig Johnson, 37, witnessed the riot at first hand with most of it happening outside his front door. 'I was speechless at first,' he says. 'It was horrific to watch. 'The rioters were pulling down the garden walls and using the bricks to throw at the mosque and at police. 'I was one of those who came out the next day and help re-build the walls around here. 'But I don't think the Government is doing enough to stop another riot happening somewhere else. They are not facing up to the immigration problem. 'If you ask me, the sooner Farage gets in the better. 'What do I think Starmer should do? I think the best thing he could do is resign.' Meanwhile, in Tamworth a year ago a rioting mob descended on the old historic town where they tried to set fire to a Holiday Inn which was housing migrants. Hundreds of people gathered as a group of masked thugs threw a burning bush inside the side entrance, while onlookers filmed, cheered and clinked their beer bottles Adam Goodfellow, 39, a surveyor who stood in Tamworth at last year's General Election for the Workers Party, said: 'I came down here when I heard there was a protest being planned, just to say that these people don't speak for all of Tamworth. 'There were a gang of people shouting at the police and it had been going for a good hour when they started throwing fireworks and it got scary. 'Personally I believe uncontrolled immigration is damaging to working peoples' interests. I also believe that when things aren't going so well, people look for scapegoats and there is a lot of hearsay on social media. 'If there is lawlessness then you need more police whoever is committing the crime. 'A year on and nothing has changed under Labour, people are still massively concerned which is why Reform won every seat at the recent elections. 'The only change at the hotel seems to be permanent security guards on reception which shows there is still a high level of threat and concern.' Claire Mitchell, 51, a Tamworth local and a regular gym-goer, said: 'What happened a year ago was horrific to see. I was ashamed and surprised. I did not think Tamworth was that sort of place. 'I don't believe everything I read on social media. There are people with agendas seeking to sew division. 'I have seen people from the hotel sitting around the lake and passing the time of day like anyone else might. It is not something I get concerned about. 'Fake news is a terrible thing and the riots we saw last year were prompted by that. 'Tamworth is a great place. I was brought up here and it has so much more to offer than the terrible behaviour of a minority. I find it sad that its reputation has been tarnished in this way. 'A year on, I do not think it matters which political party is in power. 'For me, anyone who risks their life getting on a dinghy to cross the sea has got something to run from. 'There will always be some who take advantage of a humanitarian situation but we must not let that blind us.' Retired IT guy and gym-goer Alex Freeman, 72, said: 'Whatever your opinion of the immigration situation, there is no excuse for threatening people's welfare and damaging property and that's what happened last year. 'I don't mind peaceful protest but that was threatening harm to other human beings and that is just wrong. 'I am anti the boats, I think immigration should be controlled and if you do something illegal then you shouldn't end up being given free stuff in a hotel. 'It's difficult. These are obviously desperate people but this country is not so big. 'It annoys me when I see homeless people in this country and then I think these people in the hotels have travelled across multiple countries to get to the UK. 'Why are they doing this? I know France and Germany take a lot in but I don't think they are treated as nicely as we treat them. 'We have limited resources – we have a broken NHS, potholes everywhere and we're constantly being told there is not enough money, so of course people are going to be angry. 'This is a terrible situation. 'I don't have any reason to think the people in the hotel are any different or worse than anyone else. 'I see them doing things we all do – going to the lake, looking at the ducks. If some do naughty stuff then that is rare just as it is rare when one of us commits a crime. 'And I know they are a tiny fraction of overall immigration. They get a lot of attention but they are not the ones breaking our system.' A 36-year-old mother of three, and regular gym goer, said: 'I do feel a little bit unsafe in the dark evenings. I park a bit closer to the entrance because the hotel is full of males and they hang around with nothing to do and it does make you feel on edge. 'I did not agree with the protests. Violence is never the answer but people don't feel listened to so it is difficult. 'Yes, you feel unsafe but I also feel a bit sorry for them. Where are they meant to go? 'I saw more police around now than I did before last year's trouble but I don't know whether that is to keep everyone safe or because something has happened. 'There is a lot of hearsay, a lot of rumours. I hear about women being cat-called but I have never have anything like that happen to me personally so it is a difficult one to judge.'
The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
New strict gun laws to be introduced after tragic shootings
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The Guardian
5 hours ago
- The Guardian
Two killed and six wounded in mass shooting at LA music festival afterparty
Two people were killed and six others were wounded in a mass shooting at a music festival afterparty in downtown Los Angeles early on Monday, officials said. Police first responded around 11pm on Sunday evening to shut down a 'big party' after officers saw a person possibly armed with a gun go inside a building in the city's warehouse district, Los Angeles police department spokesperson Norma Eisenman told the Associated Press. That person was arrested at the scene, she said. The event was billed on social media as an unofficial afterparty for Hard Summer, a weekend festival for house and techno music that took place in Hollywood Park by SoFi stadium, which is located in Inglewood in south LA, the Los Angeles Times reported. LAPD received reports of shots fired at the afterparty around 1am on Sunday, after officers had cleared the area. When police returned, they found one person had died and learned multiple people had been hit by bullets, Eisenman said. One man died at the scene and a woman died at a hospital, the spokesperson said. Six people were taken to hospitals in unknown condition, she said. A man told KABC-TV that his 29-year-old son was one of the two people killed. There was no information about a suspect or a motive. Investigators remained at the scene for hours. Karen Bass, the mayor of LA, condemned the shooting in a social media post, saying: 'This senseless violence and loss of life is devastating and those who are responsible must be held accountable. There will be no tolerance for violence in this city. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.' Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion Bass said the investigation was ongoing and gang interventionists were 'providing support for families and continuing the everyday work of keeping our neighborhoods safe'. Interventionists function as social workers and mediators who work within communities to resolve conflict and prevent violence. One attendee at the party, who declined to give their name, told the LA Times that it sounded as if '100 shots' had been fired, and said people scrambled onto the street in a stampede. The LA violence happened two days after four people were killed in a shooting at a bar in Montana, which was the ninth mass shooting of the year so far, according to nine, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a non-partisan group. A gunman also killed four people in Manhattan in an incident that shook New York city last month, and multiple shootings broke out across the country on the Fourth of July holiday.
