Victims of Swedish school shooting were seven women and three men, police say

BBC News

07-02-2025

The victims of Sweden's worst mass shooting were seven women and three men aged between 28 and 68, police said on Friday after completing the identification process.They were killed at an adult education centre in the city of Orebro on Tuesday, about 125 miles (200km) from Stockholm, in an attack that has sent shockwaves through Sweden.All of the victims lived in Orebro, but so far authorities have declined to share their identities or any other details about them.Police also confirmed on Friday that the suspected gunman was a 35-year-old man from the area. He has been named widely in Swedish media as Rickard Andersson.
Anna Bergkvist, the head of the police investigation, told the BBC on Thursday that Andersson had killed himself inside the school.Police have confirmed that the suspect owned four rifles legally, three of which were found inside the school after the attack alongside 10 empty magazines.Sweden's coalition government on Friday announced plans to strengthen the country's laws, making it harder to purchase guns and restricting certain types of rifle.
Victims still not identified
In the absence of official confirmation of the victims' identities, information has come out instead through their families and communities. Among them was Salim Isker, a 29-year-old man who fled the conflict in Syria in 2015 with his mother and sister after his father was killed there. Isker was studying at the Risbergska centre, where the attack happened - a school popular with immigrants learning Swedish and other subjects.Mass shooting leaves Orebro's immigrant community on edgeSchool shooting: What do we know?Isker's fiancee Kareen Elia, 24, attended a memorial service in Orebro on Thursday night along with his mother and other members of his family.Jacob Kasselia, the priest at the Syrian Orthodox church attended by Isker and his family, told the BBC he was a "simply a good man". "He did not look for trouble. He showed only goodwill. He was a member of our community," Kasselia said.Bassam Al Sheleh, a 48-year-old baker and cook and father of two, has also been named by Swedish media as one of the victims of the attack.He was reportedly studying at the Risbergska centre to improve his English.A national of Bosnia and Herzegovina was killed and another was injured, the Bosnian foreign ministry said, citing information shared by Orebro residents.
In a post on social media on Friday, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson acknowledged that the event had caused fear among immigrant communities, and urged people to "unite and stand behind all that we hold dear together"."My thoughts are with the relatives who have now received the call that is the worst one can get. To you, I want to say: you are not alone. We stand beside you," he wrote.The gunman's motive remains unknown. Video filmed inside the building during the attack and published by Swedish media appeared to record someone using anti-immigrant sentiments, but the footage has not been confirmed as accurate by the authorities.Members of Orebro's Middle Eastern immigrant communities have told the BBC they are feeling vulnerable and have been taking additional precautions in the days since the attack.
Change to gun laws
Sweden's centre-right coalition, which relies on the support of the far-right Sweden Democrats party, said on Friday it would seek to increase vetting around gun purchases and ban certain types of weapon."There are certain types of weapons that are so dangerous that they should only be possessed for civilian purposes as an exception," the government said in a statement.Prime Minister Kristersson, on a visit to Latvia, told reporters the government had to "ensure that only the right people have guns in Sweden".The Sweden Democrats said that it agreed with proposals to amend the law, including greater restrictions on access to semi-automatic weapons."The horrific act of violence in Orebro raises several key questions about gun legislation," the party said in a statement.The AR-15, a particular style of semi-automatic rifle that is both powerful and can carry large magazines, was singled out by the government as an example of weapons that could be restricted.
Under current Swedish gun laws, anyone over 18 who does not have a criminal record can apply for a permit for a shotgun, handgun or semi-automatic rifle.They must justify to the police why they need a gun. People over 20 can apply for a special dispensation to own a fully automatic weapon.Around 580,000 Swedes have a weapons licence out of a population of around 10.5 million, according to figures from Swedish broadcaster SVT.A 2017 Swiss study found there were about 2.3 million guns held by civilians in Sweden. That is around 23 guns per 100 people, compared with 29 in Norway and 120 per 100 in the US.To obtain a hunting licence in Sweden, a theory and practical test is required. About 280,000 Swedes have one.Sweden has a relatively high level of gun ownership and gun crime, by European standards, though most weapons are legally owned and used for hunting.Gun crime is mostly associated with gangs, who have also taken to using bombs to target one another.Non-gang-related gun crime is less common, and Tuesday's attack the nation's first school shooting and its worst mass shooting. A total of four people were killed in two separate school stabbings in 2015 and 2022.