Graz. Attacker had a "very private" life

The perpetrator of the crime responsible for the death of ten people at a school in the city of Graz, Austria, was alienated from real life and addicted to online shooting games, Austrian authorities said on Thursday, at a press conference in which they reconstructed the crime step by step and revealed new information about the case.

On Tuesday, a young man armed with a gun entered a school in Graz and shot dead ten people . The 21-year-old acted alone and committed suicide in the building's bathrooms, police said on the day of the incident, which only revealed that the suspect was Austrian, a former student at the school and used two weapons to carry out the attack.

Now, the public prosecutor's office and the authorities have revealed more details about the perpetrator of the incident. At the press conference in Graz, it was explained that the perpetrator left a farewell letter and had the entire attack planned.

According to local police director Michael Lohnegger, the young man — identified as “Arthur A” — had everything planned down to the last detail . He entered the school at 9:43 a.m. and took a backpack containing a Glock 19 pistol, a double-barreled shotgun and ammunition.

After entering the institution, which at the time had around 400 students, the perpetrator went to a bathroom on the third floor and put on a gun belt , shooting glasses and a headset, then went down to the second floor and shot at the people there.

At 10:07 a.m., after shooting several people, the young man returned to the same bathroom on the third floor and committed suicide by shooting himself . Authorities arrived at the school at 10:06 a.m.

[The police are called to a house after a noise complaint. When they arrive, the officers find a wild birthday party. But the birthday boy, José Valbom, has disappeared. “ O Zé faz 25 ” is Observador’s first fiction podcast, co-produced by Coyote Vadio and featuring the voices of Tiago Teotónio Pereira, Sara Matos, Madalena Almeida, Cristovão Campos, Vicente Wallenstein, Beatriz Godinho, José Raposo and Carla Maciel. You can listen to the 4th episode on Observador’s website , on Apple Podcasts , on Spotify and on Youtube Music . And the first episode here , the second here and the third here ]

The attacker lived with his mother, had no criminal record and had dropped out of school three years ago (he did not complete his degree). During the house searches, authorities found a non-functional homemade bomb , notes and plans for the attack , and are still investigating the laptop and a USB flash drive.

The notes also included a farewell letter . However, authorities said the text did not provide any information about the young man's motive for committing the crime. The content of the letter was primarily an apology to his family .

The investigation also revealed that the shooter had a hidden life: he was an introvert and kept to himself mainly in the virtual world where he played shooting games, so the only way he socialized was online. He was someone who lived a “very reserved” life, an “obsessive player of online shooting games” and “was not very willing to participate in real life”, Lohnegger described at the press conference, quoted by The Guardian .

It is also known that the two weapons used in the attack were legal and were owned by Artur A, since Austria has relatively lax legislation when compared to the European context. This means that he must have undergone a psychological evaluation — one of the requirements for owning weapons in the country. The police also said that the attacker had been practicing his aim at a shooting range in Graz since March.

It was also revealed this Thursday that the former student of the school had failed a psychological test to enter the Austrian army - information confirmed by a spokesperson for the Austrian Armed Forces.