I do not wish to receive any money or profit from this article. Its sole purpose is to inform people about what is happening in the world—especially about a tragedy that took place in a city where no one would have ever expected something like this to happen.
It’s a sad, dark day.
Never in my life did I think something like this could happen here.
In a place where we feel safe. Especially the children.
Yesterday was not just a black day for Austria...but for all of Europe.
This is the kind of thing we only see on TV.
We know where mass shootings happen. But not here. Not in Austria.
When we see it on the news, our hearts break, but we still think, "Thank God this doesn’t happen here."
And now… it has.
We are all in shock.
Maybe some of you haven’t heard what happened yet. I don’t usually write about things like this. But this… I can’t stay silent.
Graz—Austria’s second-largest city—is a calm, beautiful, safe place.
Or so we thought.
Yesterday changed everything.
A young boy, barely older than a child himself, took his guns and went back to his old high school.
And he started shooting.
Shooting at children.
Kids came back to school after a long weekend.
They went to class like any other day.
They sat down, ready to learn.
And then...gunshots.
At first, maybe you don’t even understand what’s happening.
Because how could you? This is not something we are prepared for.
Screams. Panic.
The classroom door opens—and the boy enters.
He starts shooting.
What do you do in that moment?
You can’t run—he’s at the door.
You can’t jump out the window.
You hide under your desk.
You freeze.
You pray.
You try not to make a sound.
I can’t even begin to imagine what was going through the minds of those children.
It all happened so fast.
So much fear. So many tears.
But he didn’t stop.
He kept going.
Other kids in nearby classrooms could hear the shots.
They heard the screams.
They didn’t know what was happening—only that it was something awful.
And they were trapped.
You lock the door. You hide.
And you hope...hope he doesn’t come into your classroom.
Hope it ends soon.
By the time the police got inside… it was already too late for many of them.
Can you imagine what the parents felt when they heard something was happening at their child’s school?
Can you imagine calling your child—and no one answers?
And then the moment when the phone rings, and it’s your child saying,
"I'm okay."
Relief—but also heartbreak for the ones who didn’t call home.
We saw the helicopters over Graz.
We heard the sirens.
We still didn’t know what was happening.
Then came the news, and the numbers. The real horror.
So many children hurt.
The first photos appeared—and my heart dropped.
Lives destroyed in just a few minutes.
In our city.
So close to us.
Why?
What was going through this boy’s mind? Why did he do it?
He had left this school years ago—why come back like this?
Why take it out on kids who had nothing to do with his pain?
They say he was bullied at this school.
Yes—bullying is terrible.
But does that give you the right to kill?
To murder children who did nothing to you?
And then take your own life?
Who gave him the right to decide who lives and who dies?
This is a tragedy that will leave deep scars on all the children who survived.
They watched their friends die.
They will carry this pain for the rest of their lives.
I never thought something like this could happen so close to me.
I never thought it could happen at all.
Not here.
None of us did.
Now all we can do is light a candle.
Leave flowers.
Cry.
Remember.
At 10 o’clock today, there will be a minute of silence across Austria.
For the children who will never go home.
Who will never finish school.
Who will never grow up, fall in love, start their lives.
Let’s take that minute.
Let’s be still.
And let’s think about how one person can destroy so many lives.
Rest in peace.🖤
