Swedish police report ten deaths from shooting at school

WELT No terrorist motive Swedish police report ten deaths from shooting at school Status: 10:26 p.m. Reading time: 4 minutes Around ten people were killed by shooting at an adult education center in Örebro, Sweden. Our Scandinavia correspondent Dirk Evers has initial details about the crime and the suspected perpetrator. Ten people were killed by shooting at an education center in Sweden. The police announced this. They do not believe there was a terrorist motive. Terrible bloodbath in Sweden: Around ten people were killed by shooting at a school in Örebro, Sweden, including presumably the suspected perpetrator. A police representative said this at a press conference. "Ten people were killed today," said police chief Roberto Eid Forest. The officials could not give any more precise information on the number of victims. The police could not say anything about the number of injured either. Previously it was said that the shooter had been taken to hospital with injuries. The police ruled out a terrorist background to the crime. The perpetrator was not previously known to the police. He had no connection to a gang, it was said. The damage at the crime scene was so extensive that investigators were unable to provide more precise information, said Forest. The shots were fired on the outskirts of the city of Örebro, which is about 200 kilometers west of the capital Stockholm. Police suspected that the shooter acted alone. According to the information, he had not previously been convicted of a crime. And according to Forest, there were no warning signs before the crime. Investigators searched the suspect's apartment after the shooting. Around midday, shots were fired at the Risbergska campus, an adult education facility, in the city of Örebro. Students sought shelter in nearby buildings. Videos from the crime scene showed a large police presence and ambulances. Authorities were working to identify those killed. Police said no officers were injured. Principal Ingela Bäck Gustafsson said in an interview with broadcaster SVT that she was on her lunch break when students ran past her and shouted to leave the school grounds. "When I was in the schoolyard, I heard gunshots, very close by," said Bäck Gustafsson. "We ran for our lives," said the principal. Teacher Maria Pegado reported that shortly after lunch break, someone pushed open the door to her classroom and ordered all the students to come out. "I took all my 15 students into the hallway and we started running," the 54-year-old told the Reuters news agency. "Then I heard two shots, but we made it out. We were near the school entrance." She added: "I saw people dragging injured people out, first one, then another. I realized that it was very serious." 28-year-old Andreas Sundling had to barricade himself in the school with other students. "We heard three bangs and loud screams," he told the newspaper "Expressen" while seeking shelter in a classroom. According to a hospital spokesman, five patients from the school were admitted to Örebro University Hospital. Four had undergone surgery. According to its website, the school is aimed at students over the age of 20. It offers courses for upper secondary education as well as Swedish courses for immigrants, vocational training and programs for people with mental disabilities. Örebro is located around 200 kilometers from Stockholm in central Sweden. The city has around 126,000 inhabitants. Prime Minister Kristersson: Painful day for Sweden The Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson wrote on X that it was a very painful day for all of Sweden. He is thinking of those affected and their families, as well as all those whose normal school day was replaced by horror. Kristersson added: "No one should have to experience the nightmare of sitting in a classroom and fearing for their life." Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf expressed his condolences to the victims' families. "It is with sadness and dismay that my family and I received the information about the terrible atrocity in Örebro," the monarch said. The royal family's thoughts are also with the injured and their families, as well as all other affected people. German politicians also commented on the gun attack. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) was shocked. "The news of the terrible act of violence in a school in Örebro, Sweden, shocks me," Scholz wrote on X. "My thoughts are with those affected and their families. Our sympathy goes out to Sweden."