No fewer than 10 people have been killed in a shooting at a school in central Sweden, including the suspected gunman, police say.
The incident at the Risbergska school in Örebro, 200 kilometres (124 miles) west of the Swedish capital, on Tuesday was dubbed the “worst mass shooting in Swedish history” by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
Police stated that they did not previously know the male culprit, who they suspect to be among the dead. There was no immediately identified motivation, and he was believed to be operating alone, they said.
“It is difficult to take in the magnitude of what has happened today,” Kristersson said at an evening news conference.
Earlier, police warned that other individuals had been hurt and that the death toll could still climb.
At least four individuals are receiving surgery, and several others have been transported to hospitals.
At first, police said that five persons had been shot, and they were looking into the incident as a possible case of attempted murder, arson, and aggravated weapons offence.
After a number of deaths were reported by the local media, authorities stated that “around 10” persons had been killed but “could not be more specific” about the exact number.
Additionally, they acknowledged that there didn’t seem to be a “terror” purpose for the attack.
At 12:33 local time (11:44 GMT), police received reports of a shooting at the adult education institution Risbergska school. The building is situated on a complex that also houses other educational institutions.
People who have not completed primary or secondary school are the main attendees of these institutions.
Earlier, other students at several nearby schools were being kept indoors “for security purposes.”
“We don’t want members of the public to go there,” Orebro police chief Roberto Eid Forest warned.
The justice minister, who spoke alongside the prime minister on Tuesday evening, shared his condolences for those affected by the “tragedy” and reassured citizens that schools in the country would be safe to return to on Wednesday.
“Never seen a school shooting of this magnitude,” Gunnar Strommer said.
Nearby hospitals had cleared their emergency rooms and intensive care units to free up space for patients, local media reported.
Five individuals with gunshot wounds received treatment at the emergency room of Orebro University Hospital.
According to the report, “minor injuries” were treated for a sixth individual who was not shot.
According to an update from the Örebro County municipality, none of the patients receiving care there were children.
Lena Warenmark, a teacher, told Swedish public broadcaster SVT that she heard about ten gunshots near her study.
Ali el Mokad, a relative of a man who is thought to have been enrolled in the school at the time of the attack, had set up shop outside a nearby hospital to enquire about the health of his family members.
“It doesn’t feel very good actually,” Mr. Mokad told the Reuters news agency. He said that his cousin also knew someone at the school, and when she called her friend earlier, “she fell to the ground because she was crying so much.”
“She thought what she saw was so terrible. She only saw people lying on the floor, injured and blood everywhere,” Mr. Mokad said, describing the scene his cousin’s friend had witnessed.
Another witness, a student at the school, simply identified as Marwa, described a difficult scene in which she and several others tried to save a person’s life.
“A guy next to me was shot in the shoulder. He was bleeding a lot. When I looked behind me, I saw three people on the floor bleeding,” she told TV4 Sweden.
Marwa and another friend tried to help the injured person by wrapping a shawl around the man’s shoulder “so that he wouldn’t bleed so much. Everyone was so shocked.”
Prime Minister Kristersson said earlier in the day that today is “a very painful day for all in Sweden” and that he is thinking about everyone who had a “normal school day” replaced “with terror.”
“Being confined to a classroom with fear for your own life is a nightmare that no one should have to experience,” Kristersson said in a post on X.
Later, he emphasised that there were no further hazards associated with going to school the following day and urged people to provide police the freedom and space they require to carry out their duties and investigations.
In the days ahead, authorities and the Swedish government will provide more details, Kristersson said.
