Sweden mourns victims of gun attack as suspect’s motives remain unclear

‘I thought this was my my last day ... that I'm getting shot today,’ says survivor

Survivors of Sweden’s worst mass shooting have described trying to save the lives of victims a day after a gunman killed 11 people at a school for adults.

Police said there was no evidence the suspect – named by Swedish media and a police source as Rickard Andersson, 35 – had ideological motives.

Several others were wounded in the attack at the Risbergska adult education centre in Orebro, a city with a population of some 100,000 about 200 km (125 miles) west of Stockholm.

Police discovered Andersson's body at the scene, and believe the killer, who was not previously known to them, acted alone.

“We will get back on what motives there are,” local police chief Roberto Eid Forest told a news conference.

Hellen Werme hid under a bed during the assault (Reuters)

Five of the six wounded who were treated in hospital – four women and two men – required surgery for gunshot wounds and remain in a serious condition, regional authorities said.

Some students were in class, while others were having lunch, when the gunman began firing at around 12:30 pm local time on Tuesday.

“A guy next to me was shot in the shoulder. He was bleeding a lot. When I looked behind me I saw three people on the floor bleeding. Everyone was shocked. They said: ‘Go out! Get out!’,” a student named Marwa told broadcaster TV4.

“I took my friend’s shawl and tied it tightly around his shoulder so that he wouldn’t bleed so much.”

Hellen Werme, 35, a nursing student, said that after hearing shots she had hidden under a bed to evade the gunman.

“The teacher shouted for us to lock the door and get down on the floor, the mother-of-two said. “I thought that this was my last time, my last day. That I'm getting shot today.”

Ms Werme said she still had not been able to get in touch with five of her classmates who were in a different part of the school when the shooting occurred. “I never want to go back there,” she said.

Many students in Sweden’s adult school system are immigrants seeking qualifications to help them find jobs in the Nordic country, while also learning Swedish.

The Risbergska school has around 2,700 pupils, around 800 of whom were enrolled in Swedish For Immigrants courses, according to information provided by the local authority.

It said that students, who vary in age from 18 to 70, came from a range of backgrounds and nationalities.

Flags flew at half-mast in Orebro, as well as at parliament and the royal palace in Stockholm.

From left to right: King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia, prime minister Ulf Kristersson and his wife, Birgitta Ed (Reuters)

King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia visited the school and attended a memorial service at the St Nikolai church in central Orebro.

“A grieving process is hard to do alone,” the king told reporters after laying white flowers at a memorial site with candles near the school. “I think all of Sweden feels it has experienced this traumatic event.”

The royal couple were joined by prime minister Ulf Kristersson on the trip to Orebro.

Candles and flowers have been placed near the school in Haga Street, where police officers continued their investigations.

Police said they did not see any general threat against schools or pre-schools in the country, nor against adult education schools, including Swedish classes for immigrants.

Sweden has been struggling with a wave of shootings and bombings caused by an endemic gang crime problem that has seen the country of 10 million people record by far the highest per capita rate of gun violence in the European Union in recent years.

However, fatal attacks at schools are relatively rare. Ten people were killed in seven incidents of deadly violence at schools between 2010 and 2022, according to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention.