Eleven people are dead after a rampaging gunman opened fire at an adult education centre in central Sweden, in what has been dubbed 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.
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).
When armed police arrived, they exchanged bullets with the suspect as students barricaded themselves in classrooms. The suspected perpetrator was later found with a gunshot wound, police said, adding that there is significant evidence to suggest he shot himself.
Eleven people - including the perpetrator - were killed in the shooting. At least six people were reported injured.
Five people, including three women and two men, were operated on after being admitted with gunshot wounds. All are in a stable but serious condition in the Örebro University Hospital.
Detectives are still identifying the dead as of Wednesday morning, Roberto Eid Forest told a press conference.
Six officers were treated for smoke inhalation after the attack, with police investigating the cause of the smoke including whether arson was involved.
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.
Authorities remained at the scene on Wednesday as investigations continued, with the imminent danger now believed to be over.
What do we know about the suspect?
Police say the suspect is among those killed in the school shooting, and that they acted alone.
"At the moment we are confident that no more attacks will occur. The schools that were occupied have been evacuated," police chief Roberto Eid Forest said, according to broadcaster SVT.
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.
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."
