About 10 people have been killed in a shooting at an adult education centre, Swedish police said, the deadliest attack to take place in Sweden on what the prime minister said was a “painful day” for the country.
The gunman was believed to be among those killed and a search was continuing at the school for other possible victims, the local police chief told a press conference. The perpetrator’s motive was not immediately known.
“We know that 10 or so people have been killed here today. The reason that we can’t be more exact currently is that the extent of the incident is so large,” local police chief Roberto Eid Forest told reporters.
Mr Forest said police believed the gunman had acted alone and that they did not currently suspect terrorism as a motive, though he cautioned that much remained unknown. He said the suspected gunman had not previously been known to police.
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“When it comes to saying anything more about the perpetrator, it is still very early. The operation is ongoing and that will undoubtedly become clearer. But we are working very intensively right now,” Mr Forest said.
“We have a big crime scene, we have to complete the searches we are conducting in the school. There are a number of investigative steps we are taking: a profile of the perpetrator, witness interviews ... Obviously, it’s a significant amount of work.” he said.
Police said they had opened an investigation into murder, arson and an aggravated weapons offence.
The shooting took place in Örebro, some 200km west of Stockholm, at the Risbergska school for adults who did not complete their formal education or failed to get the grades to continue to higher education. It is located on a campus that also houses schools for children.
“It is a very painful day for the whole of Sweden,” prime minister Ulf Kristersson said on X.
“My thoughts are [also] with all of those whose normal school day was turned into fear. Being locked up in a classroom fearing for your life is a nightmare no one should have to experience.”
At a press conference later, Mr Kristerrson said: “Today, we have witnessed brutal, deadly violence against completely innocent people.
“This is the worst mass shooting in Swedish history. Many questions remain unanswered, and I cannot provide those answers either. But the time will come when we will know what happened, how it could occur, and what motives may have been behind it. Let us not speculate.”
The shooting erupted after many students had gone home after a national exam. Police vehicles and ambulances, with lights flashing, blanketed the car parks and streets around the school as a helicopter buzzed overhead.
Teacher Lena Warenmark told SVT News that there were unusually few students on the campus after the exam. She also told the broadcaster that she heard probably 10 gunshots.
Andreas Sundling (2), was among those forced to barricade themselves inside the school. “We heard three bangs and loud screams,” he told 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 said 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 said students had been kept indoors at the school that was targeted and at other schools nearby for their safety. Police later began evacuating those who had taken shelter.
Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf 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 Örebro,” the king said in a statement.
“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.”
Sweden has been struggling with a wave of shootings and bombings caused by an endemic gang crime problem, though fatal attacks at schools are rare.
Ten people were killed in seven incidents of deadly violence at schools between 2010 and 2022 according to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention.
In one of the highest-profile such crimes in the past decade, a 21-year-old masked assailant driven by racist motives killed a teaching assistant and a boy while wounding two others in 2015. − Reuters/AP
