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Eleven people are dead after a rampaging gunman opened fire at an adult education centre in central Sweden, in what has been called the country’s worst ever mass shooting.
Armed police were scrambled to Risbergska School, in Örebro, at lunchtime on Tuesday, as terrified students hid under their desks and barricaded themselves in classrooms.
The suspect has been named in Swedish media as 35-year-old recluse Rickard Andersson, described by relatives as a “loner” who “doesn’t seem to like people”.
Students told local media outlets how they heard gun shots and screams before armed police stormed the buildings and they were able to escape.
In a statement issued shortly before midnight, police said 11 people had died in the attack, including the suspect. Police believe the suspect shot himself, they added in a press conference on Wednesday morning.
Paying tribute to the victims, Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson condemned the attack as the “worst mass shooting in Swedish history”. On Wednesday afternoon, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Sylvia visited Örebro, solemnly laying flowers at the site of the shooting.
Follow The Independent’s live coverage of the incident by clicking here.
Here is everything we know about the Orebro school shooting:
What happened on the day of the attack?
Risbergska School, the site of the attack, is an adult educational institute which sits on a large campus including other schools. It sits on the west side of Örebro, Sweden’s sixth-largest city around 200km west of Stockholm.
Reports of the shooting first reached police at around 12.30pm local time (11.44 GMT).
Some 130 officers arrived Tuesday after alarms summoned them to the school to find chaos across the campus. They described the scene as an “inferno” and believe the gunman turned his weapon toward them as they entered the building, while students barricaded themselves in classrooms.
Authorities said the gunman, who has not yet been officially identified, may have attended school there before Tuesday’s violence on the school campus west of Stockholm.
Swedish outlet Aftonbladet reported that Rickard Andersson, who they named as they suspect, had changed into green military clothing in the school toilets before carrying out the massacre.
The shooter was later found dead with three guns, 10 empty magazines and a large amount of unused ammunition next to his body, officials told a news conference, with at least one rifle-like weapon used in the attack.
The suspected perpetrator was found with a gunshot wound, police said, adding that there is significant evidence to suggest he shot himself.
The school, Campus Risbergska, offers primary and secondary educational classes for adults age 20 and older, Swedish-language classes for immigrants, vocational training, and programs for people with intellectual disabilities. It is on the outskirts of Orebro, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Stockholm.
Eleven people – including the perpetrator – were killed in the shooting.
Officers found at least five further people, all over age 18 with serious gunshot wounds. Two of them remained in intensive care Thursday in serious but stable condition. The other three were in stable condition after surgery.
A sixth person was treated for minor injuries.
Six officers were treated for smoke inhalation after the attack, with police investigating the cause of the smoke including whether arson was involved.
None of the victims have been named by police.
However, Syrian refugee Salim Iskef, 29, has been named as among the victims by Swedish media and Reuters.
Andreas Sundling, 28, was among those forced to barricade themselves inside the school. “We heard three bangs and loud screams,” he told the Expressen newspaper while sheltering in a classroom.
Maria Pegado, 54, a teacher at the school, said someone threw open the door to her classroom just after lunch break and shouted to everyone to get out.
“I took all my 15 students out into the hallway and we started running,” she told Reuters by phone. “Then I heard two shots but we made it out. We were close to the school entrance.”
“I saw people dragging injured out, first one, then another. I realised it was very serious,” she said.
Police are describing the incident as an “attempted murder, arson and aggravated weapons offence”. Helicopters were dispatched to the scene as part of the major response, while a property was raided in Orebro.
Police were forced to search the large school – 17,000 square meters (180,000) square feet) – to ensure there were no other casualties.
Investigators had not uncovered a definitive motive behind the bloodshed by Thursday.
What do we know about the suspect?
Rickard Andersson, 35, has been named in Swedish media as the suspected shooter. A police source also named Andersson as the culprit to Reuters news agency.
Police say the suspect is among those killed in the school shooting, and that they acted alone. They have not officially confirmed the suspect’s name.
Daily tabloid Aftonbladet, citing relatives of the suspected shooter, said Andersson was a “loner” and a recluse who had maintained little contact with his family for years.
Andersson, who suffered with mental health problems according to relatives, held a licence for multiple hunting rifles. The Swedish outlet added that he had been repeatedly refused military service.
However, detectives are not ruling out the possibility that multiple people were involved and that the situation could change, he added.
Police said that there were no suspected connections to terrorism at this point.
Police also told reporters that the suspect was not previously known to police and had no known connection to any gang.
How have officials reacted?
In his initial response, Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson called it a “painful day” for Sweden, writing on X that his thoughts were “with all those whose normal school day was replaced with terror”, adding: “Being confined to a classroom with fear for your own life is a nightmare that no one should have to experience.”
Speaking later at a press conference, he hailed the courage of first responders and those caught up in the “heinous” attack, telling the victims: “Your grief is our grief. We are here with you.”
The King and Queen of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf and Sylvia, visited the site of the shooting on Wednesday afternoon and laid flowers at a memorial on the scene.
“A grieving process is hard to do alone,” King Carl told reporters at the scene. “I think all of Sweden feels it has experienced this traumatic event.”
In a statement, on Tuesday, the King praised police and the rescue and medical personnel who responded to the shooting, and offered words of comfort to the families of the victims.
“It is with sadness and dismay that my family and I have received the information about the terrible atrocity in Orebro,” he said. “We send our condolences tonight to the families and friends of the deceased. Our thoughts at this time also go to the injured and their relatives, as well as to others affected.”
Justice minister Gunnar Strömmer called the shooting “an event that shakes our entire society to its core”, and told reporters that police were being assisted by Sweden’s security services in their search for answers.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen expressed support to neighbouring Sweden, calling Tuesday’s shooting “a terrible situation.”
“I am so sad and all my thoughts are with the victims and their families and with the entire Swedish community and society,” she said after a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London. “It’s a terrible situation. And of course, our neighbouring countries have all of our support.”
Source: independent.co.uk
