Sweden mass shooting: Multiple nationalities among victims

Several killed in Swedish college shooting. (Screengrab)

By Amina Wako
Thursday, February 6, 2025

The suspected gunman, who was also found dead at the scene, has been identified in local reports as 35-year-old Rickard Andersson, a former student of the school.

In Sweden’s deadliest mass shooting, 11 people were killed at an adult education centre in the city of Örebro on Tuesday. Police have revealed that victims came from "multiple nationalities, different genders, and different ages."

Anna Bergkvist, the head of the police investigation, confirmed to AFP that the victims included people from various backgrounds.

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The Syrian embassy in Stockholm has publicly acknowledged that some of its citizens were among those killed, with the embassy expressing "deep sorrow and grief" over the incident. The embassy condemned the attack and extended condolences to the families of both Swedish and Syrian victims in a Facebook statement.

The Syrian Embassy further wrote, “With deep sorrow and grief, the embassy expresses its strong condemnation of the criminal incident… It stands by the families of the Syrian and Swedish victims and wishes continued security, stability, and prosperity for Sweden.”

The suspected gunman, who was also found dead at the scene, has been identified in local reports as 35-year-old Rickard Andersson, a former student of the school. Andersson had been unemployed for the last decade and attended some math classes at the institution years ago. Police have yet to officially confirm his identity, pending DNA confirmation.

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.

Authorities confirmed that the gunman legally possessed four firearms, with three of them discovered near his body. Investigations are ongoing as police continue to examine the suspect’s home, mobile phones, and witness footage.

Five minutes after the alarm sounded at 12:33 p.m., officers arrived at a chaotic and terrifying scene.

“They [police] tell of what can be described as an inferno with dead people, injured people, screams and smoke,” said Örebro’s police chief, Lars Wirén. "They see a perpetrator armed with a rifle-like weapon."