Several nationalities among Sweden school shooting victims, police say
People of several nationalities were among the 11 killed at a school in Sweden’s worst mass shooting, police have said.
Anna Bergkvist, who is heading the police investigation, told Agence France-Presse that people of “multiple nationalities, different genders and different ages” were among those killed by a lone gunman at Campus Risbergska, an adult education centre, in the city of Örebro on Tuesday.
The Syrian embassy in Stockholm said its citizens were among the dead.
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Until now, police had revealed little about the victims or the gunman, other than that he was believed to have acted alone.
“With deep sorrow and grief, the embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic in the Kingdom of Sweden expresses its strong condemnation of the criminal incident that took place in the Swedish city of Örebro, which resulted in … innocent victims,” the embassy wrote on its official Facebook page.
“It extends its sincere condolences to the families of the victims, including dear Syrian citizens, and to the friendly Swedish people, and we wish a speedy recovery to the injured. It also affirms its full solidarity with the Swedish government and people in these painful circumstances.”
It added: “The embassy stands by the families of the Syrian and Swedish victims and wishes continued security, stability and prosperity for the Kingdom of Sweden.”
The Guardian has contacted the Syrian embassy in Stockholm and the police for comment about the nationality of the victims.
The suspected gunman, who was among the dead, was named in media reports as Rickard Andersson, 35, a
who lived locally. He is understood to have attended some maths classes at the school a few years ago and had been unemployed for a decade.Police on Thursday again declined to confirm his identity until they had DNA confirmation. They have previously said the suspect had no known connection to criminal gangs and that there was nothing to suggest he had acted on ideological grounds.
On Thursday, police said the suspect had a licence for four weapons – all of which have been seized by police – three of which were next to him at the scene when police secured him.
Bergkvist said: “What we can say is that there is information that he may in some way be connected to the school, that he may have attended this school previously.”
Police said that although “the picture is starting to clear” in the investigation, they are “not ready to give detailed answers. We want to be sure before we speak.”
They said they had searched the suspect’s home, examined his phones and had been scouring film and sound clips submitted by witnesses.
They said officers were met by an “inferno” when they arrived at the school about five minutes after the alarm was raised at 12.33pm on Tuesday.
Lars Wirén, Örebro’s police chief, said: “They [police] tell of what can be described as an inferno with dead people, injured people, screams and smoke.”
Shortly after they entered, they could see smoke rising and thought they were being shot at by an approaching gunman, he said. “They see a perpetrator armed with a rifle-like weapon.”