An uninvolved student saw the apparently armed boy and called the emergency number, the Vienna police press office told APA. According to officials, no violence was used.
The facility on Mollardgasse was then searched floor by floor. “The building is currently being secured,” said press spokeswoman Julia Schick. This is the normal procedure to verify the threat situation. They found the student they were looking for with a so-called paintball marker. This is a compressed air weapon, a play device for paintball games. The background to the incident was not yet clear. The special units of the Cobra and the Wega were in action – also with armored cars.
Students partially barricaded in classrooms
Pupils were still partially barricaded in their classrooms on Monday morning, as could also be seen on social media. The daily newspaper “Heute” first reported the incident online. After the police gave the all-clear, the operation was reduced again: “The measures taken in the school area are currently being scaled back,” it said on X, formerly Twitter. The operation led to traffic jams in the affected area around the Linke Wienzeile.
The Vienna professional rescue service was on site on Monday morning. There were no reports of injuries. When contacted by the APA, the school in question did not comment on the ongoing situation.