Bio

Arthur A. was a 21-year-old Austrian from Kalsdorf bei Graz. He had been a student at BORG Dreierschützengasse, an upper secondary school in Graz.

He had to repeat the sixth grade. He left school without graduating in 2022.

His mother held Austrian citizenship and his father was Armenian. He lived in an apartment with his mother.

He was unemployed. He had applied to serve in the Austrian Armed Forces but was rejected as "mentally unfit." He had no prior criminal record.

Murder Story

On 10 June 2025 at 09:57 CEST, a mass shooting occurred at BORG Dreierschützengasse in Graz, Austria. The shooter killed ten people and injured eleven others. The gunman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a school lavatory and was identified as a 21-year-old former student, Arthur A.

BORG Dreierschützengasse is an upper secondary gymnasium in Graz's Lend district. Between 350 and 400 people were inside the building when oral exams for the Matura were being held.

At around 9:43 a.m., the perpetrator entered the school. He armed himself in a restroom on the third floor with a pistol and a sawed-off shotgun that he had carried in a backpack. He put on shooting glasses, a headset, and a weapons belt with a hunting knife. The first shots were fired at 9:57 in a fifth-grade classroom on the second floor. He later opened fire inside a seventh-grade classroom on the third floor. At 10:07, he returned to the school lavatory on the third floor and shot himself. The shooting lasted about seven minutes and around 40 gunshots were fired in total.

Emergency services arrived within six minutes of the call at 10:06. Police dispatched about 300 officers, including the tactical force Einsatzkommando Cobra, and 160 paramedics and firefighters. All deceased, including the perpetrator, were accounted for at 10:13. The building was evacuated within 17 minutes of first responders arriving. The situation was reported under control by 10:28. Hospitals nearby were placed on disaster alert.

The dead included nine students and one teacher, who later died at a hospital. Seven of the victims were female and three were male. The nine students were aged 14 to 17. A total of thirty people were treated at hospitals around Graz, of whom twelve had gunshot wounds. Five people were described as being in critical condition. By the next day, the remaining injured, aged 15 to 27, were in stable condition.

Nine of the deceased victims were Austrian nationals, including one with dual French citizenship, and one was a Polish national. Two of the deceased and one injured victim were of Bosnian descent. One student killed was of Kosovo Albanian descent. Two injured people were Romanian nationals and one was an Iranian citizen.

The perpetrator was identified as Arthur A., a 21-year-old Austrian citizen from Kalsdorf bei Graz who had formerly attended the school. He had repeated the sixth grade and dropped out without graduating in 2022. Part of the shooting took place in his former classroom. His mother has Austrian citizenship and his father is Armenian. He was living in an apartment with his mother and was unemployed. He had been rejected from service in the Austrian Armed Forces as "mentally unfit."

Arthur A. legally owned both firearms used in the shooting through a firearms ownership card he had obtained in April 2025, but he did not have a firearms carrying licence. The Glock semi-automatic pistol was purchased in May, a few days before the shooting, while the shotgun had been in his possession since April. He had no prior criminal record.

Police found a suicide note at his residence the same afternoon, but its contents were not immediately released. Media reports said the note mentioned bullying, though this was not confirmed by police. A video message was sent to his mother before the shooting. Media reports said the video contained his declaration that he intended to carry out the attack at his old school and that he acted of "free volition." His mother viewed the footage 24 minutes after it was uploaded and contacted the police, but the shooting had already started.

Investigators found a non-functional pipe bomb and documents that indicated he had planned a bombing but discarded the idea. Documents also showed he had specifically targeted the second and third floors of the school. A social media account linked to him posted images of the weapons used and photos of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Austria's Federal Police said he had had a significant interest in school shootings for several years.

The shooting was the deadliest rampage killing in modern Austrian history. A memorial service was held at Graz Cathedral on the evening of 10 June. A nationwide minute of silence for the victims was held on 11 June. The school reopened on 23 June for the final two weeks of the school year with affected areas closed and redesigned during summer. Psychological counselling continued in nearby List Hall.

The incident prompted public debate about firearm laws. On 16 June, Chancellor Christian Stocker announced plans to tighten gun laws. On 4 July, the government announced changes including raising the minimum age to buy a firearm from 21 to 25, increasing the waiting period from three days to four weeks, and revising psychological exams for firearm licences. The firearms law reform was passed in September 2025. The government also agreed to open a €20 million fund to provide compensation and cover therapy and physical treatment costs for victims.