Description: The small city of Graz was encircled in death and tragedy after a 21 – year old former student using two weapons killed 9 students and a teacher and injured 12 more. The attack happened in the early hours around 10AM when gunfire and screams started echoing across the halls of the Dreierschützengasse high school. Police accompanied by special forces units and emergency services arrived at the scene almost immediately and discovered the gunman had taken his own life as he was found dead alongside the weapons in the highschool bathrooms. The motive behind the attack hasn’t been discovered as the investigation progresses, although speculations arose that the gunman was bullied by other students in the school. Leaders from Europe offered their condolences to the Austrian people whose government declared a three – day mourning period and suspended all events. Austria is one of Europe’s most gun liberal country where weapons such as rifles, shotguns which are reloaded manually could be purchased by people aged 18 and above by solely providing a clean criminal record.
Impact: The so – called lone wolf attacks mark a worrisome upscale in Europe which considerably threatens public safety and internal stability. The deadly tragedy underscores significant problems within Austria’s gun regulations and also emphasizes a varied portfolio of socio – economic threats such as disassociation among the young population. Similar attacks are on the rise across the European continent signaling a widespread epidemic of social decline and decadence amplified by the pressure from the general state of deterioration on a global level. The tragedy would most certainly prompt legislature changes, heightened security measures around soft civilian targets such as high schools. If European countries don’t address the fundamental factors causing the spread of gun violence such as gun legislature, elevated social interaction between state institutions and integrated mechanisms for early detection of similar risk, tragic events are at risk of escalating significantly.