Sweden Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson confirmed that a total of 11 people lost their lives at the hands of a mass killer at a school in Orebro.
According to Sweden's Prime Minister, Swedish authorities have announced that the tragic school shooting which happened in Orebro is "the deadliest mass shooting in the country's history".
Earlier on Tuesday evening, Swedish police confirmed that about ten people were killed in the shooting, which occurred at noon at Risbergska Skolan, an education centre, in Orebro. The suspect of the shooter is among the dead, according to the police.
While the investigation and further search are ongoing, authorities said the exact number of the victims remained unclear. However, preliminary investigations indicate that the suspect acted alone, Xinhua news agency reported.
Police also said they do not know the motive but do not believe it is terrorism, adding they "had no warning sign" about the attack. Kristersson urged the public to refrain from speculation, emphasizing that authorities must be given space to conduct their investigation.
"The Swedish public wants to know the reasons, but will have to wait for the answers," said Swedish Minister of Justice Gunnar Strommer at the press conference. "With time, the picture will clear up." In his statement, King Carl XVI Gustaf condemned the attack as a "black day" for Sweden.
He reached out to the families and friends of the victims and the injured and appreciated the efforts of police, rescue, and healthcare workers.
Risbergska Skolan mainly caters to adults above the age of 20 years and is open to teaching courses for primary and secondary school levels and Swedish language classes for immigrants. Orebro is a city around 200 km west of Stockholm.
According to SR, local school security specialist Lena Ljungdahl said armed violence in schools has been exceptionally rare in Sweden, although violence has heightened outside these educational institutions, including shooting incidents close to schools in recent years. "I have expected this. Schools are not an isolated place. What happens outside will sooner or later happen inside schools," Ljungdahl said.
Political analyst Mats Knutson, from SR, points out that this shooting happens within years of the rise of armed violence in Sweden. This last couple of months have had a record-breaking number of explosions in Sweden. "Sweden has now reached crisis," said Mats Knutson.
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