Sweden Mourn Victims Of Country’s Worst Gun Attack

Students and teachers shared the experience of trying to save the lives of their comrades before fleeing the scene of a mass shooting in Sweden described by the prime minister on Wednesday as a ‘dark day’ in the country’s history.

Police said there was no evidence the suspect, described by media as a 35-year-old unemployed recluse, had “ideological motives”, adding that the attacker appeared to have acted alone and shot himself dead at the scene.

At least 11 people died and many people were wounded in the attack at the Risbergska adult education centre in Orebro, central Sweden, on Tuesday. Five of the six victims who were treated in hospital – four women and two men – had required surgery for gunshot wounds and remained in a serious condition, regional authorities said.

Some students were in class while others were having lunch when the gunman began firing.

“A guy next to me was shot in the shoulder. He was bleeding a lot. When I looked behind me I saw three people on the floor bleeding. Everyone was shocked. They said: “Go out! Get out!”,” a school student, Marwa, told broadcaster TV4.

“I took my friend’s shawl and tied it tightly around his shoulder so that he wouldn’t bleed so much.”

Maria Pegado, 54, a teacher at the school, said someone threw open the door to her classroom just after the lunch break and shouted to everyone to get out. She and her students then started running out of the school to safety.

“I think of my students,” Pegado, who teaches adult students the skills to become kitchen staff, told Reuters.

“Many of them have fled from countries where things like this happen and now they experience it here. It is horrible.”

Ali El Mokdad arrived at the hospital overnight to see if his brother-in-law, who had gone missing, was among the injured. A friend of his had been at the school when the shooting broke out, he said.

Flags were flying at half-mast in Orebro as well as at parliament and the royal palace in Stockholm.

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia were expected to visit the school later on Wednesday and attend a memorial service. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson would also travel to Orebro, a city of more than 100,000 people some 200 km (125 miles) west of Stockholm.

Reuters/Ejiofor Ezeifeoma