Sweden school shooting: What we know about the victims and attacker
EXPLAINER
Swedish police warn that the death toll from the shooting at Risbergska School in Orebro city may rise.
01:53
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Published On 5 Feb 2025
A shooting on Tuesday at an adult education campus in central Sweden killed at least 11 people, including the attacker, the police said on Wednesday.
Here is what we know so far:
What happened and when?
A shooting took place in an adult school in the city of Orebro at 12:33pm local time (11:33 GMT) on Tuesday and the police initially reported that five people were killed.
Shots were fired in quick succession, witnesses say and videos show. Teachers inside the school said that when they heard the gunshots, they fled classrooms or barricaded themselves inside.
Maria Pegado, 54, a teacher at the school, told Reuters: 'I took all my 15 students out into the hallway and we started running. 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.'
Where was the shooting?
The shooting took place at Campus Risbergska in Orebro city, 200km (124 miles) west of the Swedish capital Stockholm.
What is Risbergska School for adults?
The school is for people over 20 years of age who were unable to complete their formal education or who did not receive the grades they needed for higher education. Schools such as Risbergska are known as 'Komvux' in Swedish.
The school caters for about 2,000 students and also offers vocational training and Swedish language classes.
What do we know about the attacker?
Swedish police say the suspected attacker – a man – was dead when they found him.
Orebro police chief Roberto Eid Forest told a news conference on Wednesday that 'there is a lot to indicate that' the suspect had turned the gun on himself.
The police said the motive for the shooting is as yet unclear and under investigation, but they believe he was acting alone. The attacker was unknown to police before the shooting, and the police said they did not find links between him and any gangs or groups. It is unclear if this means that any link to terrorism has been ruled out.
Swedish public service television company Sveriges Television (SVT) said, without citing sources, that the man lived in Orebro and had a hunting licence. The broadcaster added that he was using a hunting weapon.
Swedish daily tabloid Aftonbladet reported that the man was 35 years old. The outlet reported that relatives said he was a recluse who had withdrawn from family and friends.
What do we know about the victims?
Authorities confirmed on Wednesday that 11 people, including the attacker, were killed.
Authorities have not confirmed the number of people injured yet, and the police have warned that the death toll could rise, according to SVT.
The police told the Wednesday news conference that six people had been taken to the local university hospital, five of whom had gunshot wounds. Two people remain in intensive care.
'We do not have a complete picture at this time regarding the number of injured,' police spokesperson Fredrik Svedemyr was quoted by Anadolu news agency as saying.
'Since we also do not have any information about the injury situation for those being treated in hospital, there is unfortunately a risk that the number will not stop at 11,' said Svedemyr.
What are the reactions?
Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf said in a statement on Tuesday that he had received the news of the shooting with 'sadness and dismay'.
All flags of government buildings and royal palaces were flying at half-staff on Wednesday. This was announced in media releases from the government, royal family and parliament speaker.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson wrote on X on Tuesday: 'It is a very painful day for all of Sweden. Being locked in a classroom, fearing for your life, is a nightmare that no one should have to experience.'
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote in an X post: 'Such violence and terror have no place in our societies – least of all in schools. In this dark hour, we stand with the people of Sweden.'
16-year-old Linn, a pupil who attends school near the site of the shooting told AFP: 'I was standing there, watching what was happening, and I was just around here when I saw some bodies lying on the ground. I don't know if they were dead or injured.'
Liv Demir, 36, whose son attends a school nearby, and also takes gym classes at Campus Risbergska, told AFP: 'I became numb, speechless. I didn't really know where to go.'
How rare are shootings in Sweden?
Shootings in Sweden used to be rare. PM Kristersson told reporters that the attack was 'the worst mass shooting in Swedish history'.
However, Sweden has seen a rise in shootings and bombings associated with gang violence.
There were 296 shootings in Sweden in 2024, which resulted in the deaths of 44 people and injuries to 66 people, police data shows. The record for the highest number of shootings was in 2022 when 391 shootings took place across Sweden. Some 62 people died and 107 were injured during that year.
There have also been some recent incidents of violence at schools in Sweden. In March 2022, a student, 18, stabbed and killed two teachers in Sweden's city of Malmo.
In October 2015, a man stabbed a teacher and student to death in a school with a high number of immigrants in the industrial city of Trollhattan. The man, identified by Swedish media as 21-year-old Anton Lundin Pettersson, was reported to have far-right sympathies and was shot dead by police.
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