Graz: A three-day national mourning began on Tuesday in Austria after the country was "stricken at the heart" by a mass school shooting earlier in the morning.

According to Namibia Press Agency, at least 11 people were killed, including the shooter, in the school shooting that happened in Austria's second-largest city of Graz. Another 11 individuals were hospitalized with serious injuries.

The school shooting is considered one of the most serious in the history of Austria, as reported by the country's largest newspaper, Kronen Zeitung. Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen announced the national mourning period and the lowering of the country's flag to half-staff, stating that "what happened today in a school in Graz strikes our country at the heart."

On Tuesday evening, government leaders, including Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker, Vice-Chancellor Andreas Babler, and Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger, gathered in Graz to commemorate the victims. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed her condolences on the social platform X, emphasizing the tragedy of schools becoming sites of violence.

The Kronen Zeitung detailed that the shooting occurred at the BORG school in Dreierschutzengasse in the Lend district shortly before 10 a.m. local time. Authorities have identified the shooter as a 21-year-old former student of BORG, who reportedly took his own life after the attack.

In response to the tragedy, police presence has been intensified in the region, with additional support from a helicopter. The school has been evacuated, and authorities have declared that there is no longer any immediate danger.

A nationwide minute of silence is scheduled for Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. local time, while public celebrations have been either canceled or postponed in respect for the victims. "You don't have words for such things. Austria is such a lovely country. We stay together, we live together, and such tragedies like this today is unbelievable," a Graz resident remarked.