By Max Schwarz and Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich
GRAZ, Austria (Reuters) -Austrian investigators were on Thursday slowly piecing together the character of the man who carried out the country’s worst school shooting this week, with officials struggling to reach anyone who knew the deceased 21-year-old well.
The Austrian man, identified by local media as Arthur A., killed 10 people before shooting himself at his former high school in the southern city of Graz, sending shockwaves through Austria, which declared three days of national mourning.
Police found discarded plans for a bomb attack and a non-functional bomb during a search of his home after the shooting, but what triggered his destructive urges remains unclear.
Authorities said the suspect failed to complete his studies at the school. Local media reported the man, who lived with his mother on the outskirts of Graz, felt bullied at the school and wanted revenge, though police have not confirmed this.
Neighbours and officials in the commuter town of Kalsdorf bei Graz, where he lived, described a withdrawn, slight man who generally wore a cap and headphones, covering himself up.
Of over a dozen local residents spoken to about the suspect by Reuters, few wanted to talk at all. Some said they had seen him, but none said they knew him.
“He’s not at all known in the place, that is, we weren’t able to speak to either friends or acquaintances yesterday,” local council official Sabine Jakubzig told Austrian television.
According to newspaper Heute, investigators said he did not have a personal account on social media. Police, who declined to comment, will hold a press conference later on Thursday.
Austrian magazine Profil said three months ago the suspect had started practising shooting at a club near his home, citing an unidentified regular at the range.
The man related how he had praised the young man for his accuracy, but received no response.
“He was like someone from another planet,” Profil quoted the shooting club regular as saying.
Questions about the bullying allegations at the Dreierschutzengasse school the young man attended were put to its deputy head, Norbert Urabl, on national broadcaster ORF.
“Bullying is a very delicate topic. Bullying occurs on so many levels that it’s very difficult to pinpoint the term bullying in this case,” he said.
“But the fact is that, if bullying can be triggered, then more sensitivity is urgently needed to recognise bullying processes earlier.”
(Reporting by Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich and Francois Murphy, Writing by Dave Graham, editing by Ed Osmond)
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