Eleven people were killed in a shooting at an adult education center in Orebro, Sweden, on Tuesday, according to Swedish police, marking the deadliest gun attack in the country’s history. The gunman is believed to be among the deceased, though a search for other potential victims at the school continues. The motive for the attack remains unclear.
“We know that about 10 people have been killed today. The reason we cannot be more precise is due to the vastness of the incident,” local police chief Roberto Eid Forest stated at a press conference.
Later in the evening, the police updated the toll, confirming 11 deaths but said the number of injured remained uncertain. “We currently have no information on the condition of the injured,” the police said.
Forest indicated that the gunman likely acted alone and that terrorism was not considered a motive, although he noted much was still unknown. The suspected gunman had no prior record with the police.
The shooting took place at the Risbergska school, an institution for adults who did not complete their formal education or failed to meet academic standards for further study. The school is located on a campus that also hosts children’s schools.
Ali Elmokad, waiting outside Orebro University Hospital, was trying to find a relative but had not yet been able to confirm if they were among the dead or injured. He recounted hearing that a friend who attended the school saw “people lying on the floor, injured, with blood everywhere.”
After the attack, police conducted searches at several addresses in Orebro, including a raid at an apartment building in the city. “We saw a lot of police with drawn weapons,” said Lingam Tuohmaki, a local resident.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called it Sweden’s worst mass shooting, stating, “It is hard to grasp the full extent of what has happened today – the darkness that now surrounds Sweden.” King Carl XVI Gustav also expressed his sorrow, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered her condolences to the people of Sweden on X (formerly Twitter).
Teacher Maria Pegado, 54, described the frightening moment when someone opened her classroom door after lunch and shouted for everyone to evacuate. She led her 15 students into the hallway and ran, hearing two shots in the process. “I saw people dragging injured out… I realized it was very serious,” she said.
Sweden’s adult education system serves many immigrants looking to improve their education, find jobs, and learn Swedish. While the country has faced an uptick in gun violence due to gang-related crime, school shootings are exceedingly rare.
Between 2010 and 2022, there were ten fatalities in seven school violence incidents, according to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention. Sweden has a relatively high level of gun ownership by European standards, largely for hunting, though illegal weapons are becoming increasingly prevalent due to gang violence.
In 2015, a 21-year-old, motivated by racist ideologies, killed a teaching assistant and a boy while injuring two others. In 2017, another attack occurred when a man used a truck to run over shoppers in Stockholm, resulting in five deaths.
