Sweden's worst mass shooting left at least 11 people dead, including the gunman, at an adult education centre west of Stockholm as officials warned the death toll could rise.
The gunman's motive, as well as the number of wounded, had not been determined by early Wednesday as Sweden reeled from an attack with such bloodshed that police early on said it was difficult to count the number of dead among the carnage.
The school, called 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, which is about 125 miles west of Stockholm.
Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer called the shooting “an event that shakes our entire society to its core”.
The shooting started on Tuesday afternoon after many students had gone home following a national exam. Students sheltered in nearby buildings, and other parts of the school were evacuated following the shooting.
Authorities were working to identify the deceased, and police said the toll could rise. Roberto Eid Forest, head of the local police, told reporters the suspected gunman was among the dead.
There were no warnings beforehand, and police believe the perpetrator acted alone. Police have not said if the man was a student at the school. They haven't released a possible motive, but authorities said there were no suspected connections to terrorism at this point.
Police raided the suspect's home after Tuesday's shooting, but it wasn't immediately clear what they found.
“Today, we have witnessed brutal, deadly violence against completely innocent people,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told reporters in Stockholm late on Tuesday.
“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,” he said.
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 Orebro,” 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.”
Police said on Wednesday that “erroneous narratives” were being spread on social media regarding the mass shooting.
“We want to be clear that based on investigative and intelligence information at present, there is no information pointing to the culprit acting on ideological motives,” police said in a brief statement on its website.
Sweden has been struggling with a wave of shootings and bombings caused by an endemic gang crime problem that has seen the country of 10 million people record by far the highest per capita rate of gun violence in the EU in recent years.
However, 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
