Latest news with #RickardAndersson
News18
10-06-2025
- News18
Are School Shootings On The Rise In Europe? 5 Cases In Five Years Paint Worrying Picture
Last Updated: From Prague to Örebro, despite stricter gun laws, a surge of school attacks across Europe underscores the need for mental health support. School shootings are unfortunately more prevalent in the US than in Europe. The US experiences multiple school shootings annually, often with high casualties, while Europe has seen comparatively few such incidents over recent decades. Between 1987 and 2025, Europe witnessed at least 22 mass shootings, with fewer than half targeting schools, colleges, or universities. The 1996 Dunblane massacre and Germany's 2002 Erfurt shooting, among Europe's deadliest, each resulted in 16 deaths, but such incidents were widely perceived as anomalies. However, while school shootings remain rare in Europe compared to North America, the recent Graz tragedy contributes to a growing list of attacks, including smaller but serious incidents in countries like Sweden, Serbia, and Czechia. In May 2023, Serbia experienced two school attacks. In Belgrade, a 13-year-old gunman killed eight classmates and a security guard. Two days later, another shooter opened fire in a nearby village, killing eight and wounding fourteen before being apprehended. The Belgrade shooter reportedly pre-planned the attack using his father's legally owned pistols and Molotov cocktails. Initially remorseless, he reportedly sought notoriety. Described as an excellent student with no prior disciplinary record, his actions shocked the public and officials. The Mladenovac village shooter acted out of personal grievances and emotional instability; the attack was described as random and indiscriminate. These two attacks led Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić to announce stricter firearm regulations and tighter gun ownership controls. The December 2023 shooting at Charles University in Prague, perpetrated by a 24-year-old student, is considered the deadliest mass shooting in Czechia's modern history. Czech authorities described the shooter as a lone wolf influenced by foreign mass shootings, particularly those in the United States. The suspect reportedly experienced mental health issues and expressed nihilistic views. Before the university attack, he had murdered his father and was suspected of another double homicide. On 4 February 2025, a shooting at Campus Risbergska, an adult education centre in Örebro, Sweden, resulted in eleven deaths, including the shooter, and six injuries. The shooter, 35-year-old Rickard Andersson, likely acted due to suicidal motives, targeting the school because of his past connection as a former student who had not completed his studies. These incidents, while distinct, highlight a concerning trend of violence in European educational settings. Motivations vary, from personal grievances to external influences, but a common factor appears to be underlying mental health issues. While specific triggers and circumstances differ, mental health struggles are increasingly recognised as a significant factor, overshadowing cases directly linked to terrorism.
South China Morning Post
16-05-2025
- South China Morning Post
Sweden school shooter's motive was suicide: police
A gunman who killed 10 people in a school shooting in Sweden in February was motivated by a wish to end his life because of financial and psychological woes, police said Friday. The shooter, 35-year-old Rickard Andersson, had repeatedly been denied social benefits, was struggling to survive financially and had mental health problems, commanding officer Henrik Dahlstrom said as he presented the conclusions of the investigation. Police believe Andersson, whose killing spree ended when he shot himself in Sweden's worst mass shooting, experienced 'an ever increasing frustration and hopelessness that developed into a wish to take his own life', Dahlstrom told reporters. Andersson likely chose the Campus Risbergska adult education centre in Orebro as the scene of his crime because he had taken maths classes there from 2019 to 2021, though he failed to complete the course, police said. He even brought an old maths book with him on the day of the shooting, Dahlstrom said. He added that despite the Swedish police's collaboration with their counterparts in Norway, the US and with Europol, many questions remained unanswered about the motive as Andersson's mobile phone and hard drives have never been found.
TimesLIVE
16-05-2025
- TimesLIVE
Swedish police found no racist or radical motives in February school shooting
Swedish police have found nothing to indicate the gunman in the country's deadliest mass shooting, at an adult school in February, had racist or radical views, investigators said on Friday. The perpetrator, named by police as Rickard Andersson, shot dead 10 students and teachers at the Campus Risbergska school in the city of Orebro before killing himself in the mass shooting on February 4. The 35-year-old Andersson, a former student at the school, was described by police as a recluse who owned four licensed firearms. 'The motive we see is his desire to take his own life,' police commander Henrik Dahlstrom said, adding Andersson had probably picked the Campus Risbergska location because of his affiliation with the school.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Yahoo
Swedish police found no racist or radical motives in February school shooting
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish police have found nothing to indicate that the gunman in the country's deadliest mass shooting, at an adult school in February, had racist or radical views, investigators said on Friday. The perpetrator, named by police as Rickard Andersson, shot dead ten students and teachers at the Campus Risbergska school in the city of Orebro before killing himself in the mass shooting on February 4. The 35-year-old Andersson, a former student at the school, was described by police as a recluse who owned four licensed firearms. "The motive that we see is his desire to take his own life," police Commander Henrik Dahlstrom said in a statement, adding that Andersson had probably picked the Campus Risbergska location because of his affiliation with the school.
Local Sweden
15-05-2025
- Local Sweden
Swedish police to present investigation into Örebro campus attack
Police in Sweden are set to hold a press conference on Friday to present their investigation into the Örebro campus attack earlier this year. Advertisement 'The press conference will present partially new information about the suspected perpetrator, the conclusions of the investigation and a more collected and visualised picture of the sequence of events before and during the attack,' a police press statement reads. On February 4th, ten people were killed and six were hospitalised in the attack at Risbergska, the main centre for adult education in the central Swedish city of Örebro, before the perpetrator Rickard Andersson killed himself. The last two patients were able to leave hospital on May 13th, although the region has said that all of them will need further treatment. Advertisement Most of the victims had a foreign background. Police operation commander Henrik Dahlström will take part, alongside the regional and vice police chiefs for Bergslagen, Patrick Ungsäter and Niclas Hallgren. The press conference will take place on Friday at 10am.
