Austria school shooter posted twisted photo of himself minutes before massacre

Gunman Artur A showed himself in the toilet of Dreierschützengasse high school in Graz, dressed in black jump boots and black army style trousers - minutes before his deadly seven-minute attack
The Austria school massacre gunman posted sick images of himself just minutes before he slaughtered nine pupils and a teacher. Artur A photographed himself in the toilet of Dreierschützengasse high school in Graz minutes before Tuesday's seven-minute attack.
The image shows him, dressed in black jump boots and black army style trousers, hiding in a cubicle as he gets ready for his murder mission, taking an image from his lap. He posted the photo on X; he also left a video message for his mother, and a suicide note. It was published at 9.43am on Tuesday, just five minutes before he entered two classrooms to murder nine boys and girls, and one teacher.
He also posted an image of his weapons, a Mercury double-barrelled shotgun and a Glock 19 handgun, with the sick message: "Veeeeerrry early birthday present for myself." His social media profiles also mention the Columbine school massacre in the US with an image of the killer and a message, again in English, stating: "They look like Monsters to you?"
The posts emerged as police built up a profile of the killer, a loner who was obsessed with online gaming. They revealed that he had few friends and spent most of his free time playing Call of Duty or Valorant as an 'on-line shooter'. He had been obsessed with Columbine and other US school massacres. One of his followers posted the message 'my hero' beneath one reference to Columbine, which resulted in 14 deaths in 1999.
It was carried out by gunmen, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who also took their own lives after the shooting. Artur posted images of the guns on the platform Tumblr days before the Fraz attack. He was due to turn 22 in a matter of weeks.
He carried out the massacre in just seven minutes, police revealed. He shot through a classroom door after terrified pupils had barricaded themselves inside as he carried out his murder mission.
The first police response team arrived within six minutes of the alarm being raised at 10am on Tuesday. Elite Cobra anti terror officers entered the building after 17 minutes.
But it was too late. They found only bodies, horrified survivors and multiple casualties. Artur, who said he was bullied at the school, had been planning his rampage for months.
He fired indiscriminately, killing the child of one of his neighbours in the bloodshed. He had made plans for a bomb attack found alongside a 'non functional' pipe device at his home.
Artur A did not know the pupils he killed but one of the two teachers he shot had once taught him. He had also been to a local firing range in the weeks leading up to the attack and was armed with a Mercury double-barrelled shotgun and a Glock 19 handgun in the shooting.
Michael Lohnegger, the head of Styria province's criminal police office, said that he had a backpack containing the weapons. He put on equipment including shooting glasses and a headset in the bathroom before starting the seven-minute shooting spree.
He opened fire on the building's third floor before shooting open the locked door of a fourth-floor classroom. Once inside, he again fired indiscriminately. He had enough ammunition to continue shooting but instead went to a bathroom and fatally shot himself in the head.
He left a farewell letter and video, "an apology for the crime and a thank you" to his mum, but offered "no motive". Authorities also found a handwritten note that showed he had planned the attack "down to the smallest detail".
He set out what he was going to do, but gave no date for the planned attack. The note had suggested that he had lacked enough time to build a pipe bomb. Investigators had found one but it would not have detonated.
Mr Lohnegger said a picture had emerged of a "very introverted person" who loved online shooting games but had limited contact with the outside world. "He never expressed any anger or resentment towards the school, students or teachers," he added. He had no previous police record and "there were definitely no particular problems with him at this school". The gunman was in unspecified "vocational training" at the time of the attack.
He had bought the shotgun legally in Graz in early April and the handgun from another shop in the city in late May. He had a licence for the weapons that required a report from a psychological expert.
He did shooting practice five times in March using a hired firearm at a shooting club in Graz. Six girls and three boys aged between 14 and 17 and a female teacher, 57, were killed in the attack. The 11 injured, aged between 15 and 26, are not in a critical condition.
Artur, who has not been officially named, was born in Styria, the region which includes Graz, Austria's second biggest city. He lived with his single mum, who was also Austrian. His dad, of Armenian origin, had not lived with them since his parents' separation.
Hundreds of people will be interviewed by police and the attack may be reconstructed. The quick response time on Tuesday "appeared to have saved lives". President Alexander van der Bellen suggested Austria's gun laws could be changed in the wake of the attack.
"If we come to the conclusion that the gun law needs to be changed, then we will do so," he said. Relatives of the victims and school pupils are being cared for at a crisis intervention centre set up across the road from the school.

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