Sweden campus shooting leaves 11 dead
OREBRO, Sweden — Eleven people were killed in a shooting at an adult education center on Tuesday, Swedish police said, marking the country’s deadliest gun attack in what the prime minister called a “painful day.”
Police said the gunman was believed to be among those killed and a search for other possible victims was continuing at the school, located in the city of Orebro. The gunman’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 a news conference.
Later in the evening the police website said: “At this time, there are 11 deaths due to the incident. The number of injured is still unclear. We currently have no information on the condition of those who have been injured.”
Forest told the press conference police believed the gunman had acted alone and that terrorism was not currently suspected as a motive, though he cautioned that much remained unknown. He said the suspected gunman had not previously been known to police.
‘Big crime scene’
“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,” Forest said.
The shooting took place in Orebro, some 200 km (125 miles) 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.
Ali Elmokad was outside the Orebro University Hospital, looking for his relative, not yet knowing if he was among the injured or the dead.
“We’ve been trying to get hold of him all day, we haven’t been successful,” he said, adding that he had a friend who also attended the school. “What she saw was so terrible. She only saw people lying on the floor, injured and blood everywhere.”
Police said it was still going through the crime scene and had searched several addresses in Orebro after the attack.
