Five people were shot at an adult education centre in Sweden on Tuesday, police said. The conditions of the victims weren’t immediately clear.
The Swedish news agency TT reported, without providing its sources, that the perpetrator died by suicide. Police didn’t immediately confirm that reporting, but were due to hold a news conference.
The adult education center is on the outskirts of the city of Orebro, which is located about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Stockholm.
The school, called Campus Risbergska, serves students who are over age 20, according to its website. Primary and upper secondary school courses are offered, as well as Swedish classes for immigrants, vocational training and programs for people with intellectual disabilities.
The violence broke out Tuesday after many students had gone home following a national exam. Police vehicles and ambulances, lights flashing, blanketed the parking lots and streets around the school as a helicopter buzzed overhead.
Teacher Lena Warenmark told SVT News that there were unusually few students on the campus Tuesday afternoon because many went home after the exam. She also told the broadcaster that she heard probably 10 gunshots.
Police at the scene of an incident at Risbergska School, in Örebro, Sweden, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025.
Kicki Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP
Students sheltered in nearby buildings. Other parts of the school were evacuated following the shooting, which began at around 12:30 p.m. local time (1130 GMT).
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Andreas Sundling, 28, was among those forced to barricade themselves inside the school.
“We heard three bangs and loud screams,” he told Expressen newspaper while sheltering in a classroom. “Now we’re sitting here waiting to be evacuated from the school. The information we have received is that we should sit and wait.”
It wasn’t immediately clear whether police were counting the perpetrator among the five shot. Police said that no officers were shot during the violence.
“The reports of violence in Orebro are very serious. The police are on site and the operation is in full swing,” Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer told TT.
During a news conference on the Swedish employment market, another government official addressed the violence in Orebro, which has a population of around 155,000 people.
“The government is following developments very closely and has a continuous dialogue with the police about this,” Mats Persson, minister for employment and integration, said Tuesday.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
