Abandoned plans for a bomb attack have been found at the home of the suspected gunman in a school shooting in Austria, police have said.
Police in the south-eastern city of Graz also found a non-functional pipe bomb, and a “farewell” letter and video during the search, they said in a statement.
Ten people were killed in the attack at the secondary school on Tuesday – the deadliest in the country’s recent history.
The suspect, a 21-year-old former student at the school, took his own life in a school bathroom shortly after the attack, according to police. Authorities have not yet drawn any conclusions on the gunman’s possible motive.
Analysis of evidence and data storage devices will continue over the coming weeks and hundreds of people will be interviewed, they said.
The incident would be reconstructed to shed light on how events unfolded, police added.
They said police first arrived at the school six minutes after the first emergency call was made at 10:00 on Tuesday, with a rapid response unit and specialist Cobra tactical unit – which handles attacks and hostage situations – arriving by 10:17.
Styrian police said this quick reaction “appears to have saved several lives”.
Police have increased security measures around schools in the city since the attack.
Local media reports that relatives of the victims and school pupils are being cared for at a crisis intervention centre set up across the road from the school.
A teacher there told news agency AFP that he narrowly escaped after finding himself in a corridor with the shooter.
Paul Nitsche, who teaches religion, said that he was working by himself with the door open on the upper floor of the school when he heard gunshots.
The 51-year-old said he then ran out of the room and saw the gunman when he was in the corridor on the floor below.
“He was trying to shoot the door [of a classroom] open with his rifle,” he said. “He was busy […] and I didn’t look around much either […] I didn’t hang around.”
Astrid, who lives with her husband Franz in a residential building next to the school, told the BBC she had just finished hanging out the washing when she heard 30 to 40 gunshots.
“We saw one pupil at the window – it looked like he was getting ready to jump out… but then he went back inside,” Franz said.
The couple later saw students exiting the school and gathered on the street.
