What we know so far about the Örebro college shooting
What happened?
The details were still sketchy when this article was last updated at 6.30pm, but what we know is that a masked man opened fire inside Campus Risbergska, the main centre for adult education in the city of Örebro, at around 12.30pm on Tuesday.
The college's head, Ingela Bäck Gustafsson, told public broadcaster SVT that she had been eating her lunch with colleagues when a large number of pupils ran up to them screaming that everyone needed to evacuate.
"Together with a big group of students, I ran out in the school yard, and when I was out there I heard shots nearby," she said. "But both I and a lot of others were just screaming 'run, run'. And we ran for our lives."
A video published by the Aftonbladet newspaper appears to show a glimpse of the shooter seen through the window of one of the school's doors.
Some parts of the school were evacuated and other parts were locked down, she told the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper, and many students and staff took cover at a nearby restaurant.
"They're not allowed to go outside, we're keeping them in here. It's like a shelter," a woman who worked at the restaurant said. "The students say a masked man entered the school. We've got about 30 to 40 people here. The police are on site, protecting us."
Lena Warenmark, a teacher speaking to public broadcaster SVT, said that there were unusually few students onsite, as they had gone home after a national test earlier in the day.
The centre was originally built as an upper secondary school called Risbergska Skolan, but was converted in 2017 into a specialist school where students over the age of 20 can complete their primary and secondary level education, learn Swedish, and receive vocational training.
How many victims are there?
Police confirmed at a press conference that "around ten people" were killed in the attack, with the perpetrator believed to be among the dead.
Jonas Claesson, healthcare director in Örebro, told a press conference on Tuesday afternoon that six people had been taken to hospital:
Four people had been operated on and two people were described as stable
One was described as seriously injured
One who had not been operated on had only minor injuries
There was no information about the fifth person.
Sources have told SVT that around 15 people were injured in total.
There were reports that shots had been fired at police, but police confirmed no officers had been hurt.
What's the current situation?
When this article was last updated at 7.50pm, police were confident that the danger had passed.
"At present, we feel confident that no more attacks are going to happen," Roberto Eid Forest, police chief in Örebro, said at a press conference.
Police initially issued a warning to people in the Västhaga area of Örebro to stay away from the area around the school, or, if they were already there, to stay indoors or leave immediately.
Who's the perpetrator?
Police described him as "a male person" who is "not known to police", and does not appear to be connected to a gang or terror group. According to the TV4 broadcaster, he is 35 years old and has a weapons license.
Forest said that the Säpo security police were currently investigating possible motives.
"We believe that he is the primary perpetrator but we are not ruling anything out."
The Aftonbladet tabloid and local Nerikes Allehanda (NA) newspaper reported at around 4.30pm that police were preparing to carry out a raid at an address in central Örebro believed to belong to the suspected perpetrator.
Police were heavily armed, according to NA, and had used a drone to look through the window of the property.
How common are school shootings in Sweden?
Rare. This shooting was the deadliest attack on a school or college in the country's history.
In 2015, a man dressed in a home-made uniform and wielding a samurai swords attacked a school in Trollhättan, killing three students before he, himself was shot dead by police.
Seven school attacks have taken place since then, three of which resulted in fatalities.
The last school shooting took place in 2001, when a student was shot dead in a row over a bag of valium.
The last shooting at a school in Sweden was the Kungälv shooting in 1961, when a 17-year-old opened fire on a dance in a school gym, injuring seven students and killing one.
What next?
Police have set up information points for family members and members of the public. These will be located near Hagakyrkan and beside Myrorna near Entréskolan. They have urged people not to head to the school or to the local hospital.
Region Örebro, which is responsible for healthcare in the area, has set up a special medical management team and entered stabsläge or crisis mode, essentially a heightened state of preparedness to quickly be able to decide on the reallocation of internal resources and to call in extra staff.
Police said in a press conference on Tuesday afternoon that they were not sure whether schools would remain closed on Wednesday.
How have Swedish politicians reacted?
Sweden's prime minister Ulf Kristersson on Tuesday night expressed his "bottomless sorrow" at what had taken place.
"We have today seen brutal, deadly violence against completely innocent people. This is the worst mass shooting in Swedish history," he said at a press conference at 7.30pm.
"My thoughts go to those affected, their families and to the police on site," Social Democrat party leader Magdalena Andersson told TT on Tuesday afternoon.
Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson described the news on X as a "nightmare".
"It should not be possible for terrible acts like this to happen in Sweden. My thoughts go to those who find themselves in the centre of this nightmare."
"School should be a safe place," Centre Party leader Muharrem Demirok wrote on X. "Anything to the contrary is a failure. My thoughts go to those affected and their families."
Left Party leader Nooshi Dadgostar also commented the incident in a post on X.
"My heart is with those affected, with teachers, students and emergency service personnel. The violence our land is going through is a chasm we must find our way out of together."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Local Sweden
6 days ago
- Local Sweden
Sweden's IES language teachers lose contracts after watchdog crackdown
The IES school in Solna, Stockholm. Photo: Janerik Henriksson/TT More than 30 language teachers at the IES school chain have lost their permanent contracts and either been made redundant or moved into other roles after Sweden's Schools Inspectorate criticised the group for its use of teachers without a Swedish certification. Advertisement More than 30 language teachers at the IES school chain have lost their permanent contracts and either been made redundant or moved into other roles after Sweden's Schools Inspectorate slammed the group for its widespread use of unlicensed teachers. Sally Thornton, the vice chair of the IES division at the Swedish Teachers' Union, said that "about 30" teachers were affected, of which a handful had already been made redundant. "IES didn't have the right to give these permanent contracts, so a lot of teachers are feeling depressed and angry because they thought that they were safe, and they weren't," she told The Local. "We've been pushing really hard for some kind of compensation for those who had their permanent contracts torn up, but unfortunately we do not have the law on our side, because the law is that teachers need to be certified." In June 2024, the Schools Inspectorate threatened "thoroughgoing sanctions" on IES's school in Norrtälje if it did not immediately stop using language teachers who lack a Swedish teaching certificate, the latest in a string of cases where the inspectorate has threatened fines over use of unlicensed language teachers. IES makes use of an exception to the rule that teachers need a Swedish teaching licence, or lärarlegitimation. Teachers of maths, science, and aesthetic subjects like art or music, are allowed to teach with teaching qualifications from their home country, allowing the chain to recruit thousands of teachers for these subjects from English-speaking countries. The chain has, however, flouted the rules by also recruiting internationally for teachers of English, French, Spanish, German and other languages, ignoring the fact that teachers of these subjects do require a Swedish license. Advertisement "Since 2022 the School Inspectorate is clear that if we are to be compliant, our international language teachers, who have not yet obtained Swedish teaching credentials, and who cannot be reassigned to other roles or teach other subjects in the school, cannot have permanent employment," Catarina Friborg, the group's head of human resources, told The Local. "We are therefore encouraging all our international teachers to take a Swedish teaching license, and we are offering all our employees the opportunity to study Swedish during working hours," she added. Most of those affected by this year's crackdown, she said, had been given jobs teaching maths, science, and aesthetic subjects, or else moved to teaching fritids, or "after-school care", with only a few made redundant. Thornton said that while the union supports the Schools Inspectorate's position that all teachers should have Swedish qualifications, it believed that IES should have acted sooner. Above all, she said, the chain should have offered the affected teachers the chance to study during work hours for a Swedish license, which among other things, requires proficient (C2-level) Swedish. Advertisement "At every yearly budget meeting for the past few years, we've said, 'we need more resources for our teachers [to get certified]. They have had an online course but very few teachers take it because we have a lot to do. We don't have that much free time." "They have offered days off without pay, but we think, from the union side, that if you bring teachers over here, then you should actually take responsibility for them and help them learn the language."
Local Sweden
05-06-2025
- Local Sweden
Swedish PM 'not ruling out' state apology to international adoptees
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who chaired the agency managing adoptions to Sweden some 20 years ago, has said he's not ruling out an apology after an inquiry unveiled widespread abuses spanning several decades. Advertisement Kristersson told the TT news agency that he's not ruling out an official state apology to international adoptees, after the government-appointed inquiry sharply criticised previous state inaction on adoptions under questionable circumstances. The investigation, led by civil law professor Anna Singer, found evidence of child trafficking in about ten cases, mostly from the 1970s and 80s. In many more cases, parental consent was missing or poorly documented. It proposed banning all international adoptions. It was launched in 2021 after reports surfaced of children stolen from countries such as Chile, China, and South Korea. Kristersson himself has been caught up at the centre of scandal, as he served as chair of Adoptionscentrum, the organisation arranging international adoptions to Sweden, between 2003 and 2005. "The information there is now didn't exist at the time, it has emerged afterwards," he told TT. He said that he welcomed the inquiry commission's report. "It's incredibly important that this work has been done. There's a great number of proposals from the commission which we are now going to study very carefully," he said. "The government isn't ruling anything out."
Local Sweden
04-06-2025
- Local Sweden
Sweden could send up to 600 convicted criminals to Estonian prisons
A new agreement between Sweden and Estonia means that up to 600 criminals convicted in Sweden could serve time in prisons in Estonia, in what Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has described as a "historic" deal. Advertisement The new agreement, which is designed to partly solve Sweden's problem with a lack of prison space, is the result of negotiations which began this spring. The two countries have agreed that Sweden can rent 400 cells in a prison in Tartu – the entire prison – in the southeastern part of the country, which would house up to 600 convicted criminals. Prisoners eligible to be placed in Estonia would be men over the age of 18 who are convicted for crimes in Sweden. Both Swedish and foreign criminals would be eligible, with the exception of Estonian citizens. Under the deal Sweden would only be able to send prisoners who do not pose a major security risk, roughly equivalent to convicted criminals classed at security level two in Sweden, on a three-point scale. Staff in the prison in Tartu would be Estonian, but they would be able to speak English, and prisoners would have the right to interpreters. Estonian laws would apply, but some rules have been put into place to make sure that prisoners in Estonia have the same rights they would have had in Sweden. This includes rules around occupational activities, visitational rights and communication with the outside world. Advertisement The Swedish Prison and Probation Service would also have staff on site to assist with training Estonian staff. Sweden would also save money by sending prisoners to Estonia. According to Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer, an Estonian prison stay would cost the state around €8,500 a month per person, compared to €11,500 per month in Sweden. A government-appointed inquiry which presented its findings late last year concluded there were no barriers in the Swedish constitution or European conventions which would bar it from renting prison spaces abroad. The deal requires a parliamentary vote with a three quarter majority before Sweden can start sending prisoners to Estonia. This means that the government and its Sweden Democrat allies will need the support of the Social Democrats, currently in opposition, to approve it. The law has a suggested implementation date of July 1st, 2026.
