Sweden just experienced the worst mass shooting in its history. Here’s what we know

A gunman opened fire at an adult education center in the Swedish city of Örebro on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people in what the country’s prime minister called the “worst mass shooting in Swedish history.”

Swedish police are still piecing together how the tragedy occurred. Here’s what we know so far.

What happened?

At 12:33 p.m. local time (6:33 a.m. ET) on Tuesday, police received reports of a shooting in Örebro, a city about 160 kilometers (100 miles) west of the capital, Stockholm.

The shooting occurred at Campus Risbergska, a school for adults who have not completed earlier stages of education. Such facilities are known as a Komvux in Sweden. Komvuxes provide vocational training, Swedish language classes and other courses for adults seeking the qualifications needed to gain employment. They are also essential services for Sweden’s refugee and migrant populations.

Cellphone videos showed students taking shelter under desks while alarms screeched and red lights flashed.

He said his classmates barricaded the doors and took cover for around an hour, before police entered the classroom and evacuated the students. “There was blood all over the corridor,” Sundling said.

How many people were killed or injured?

At least 10 people were killed and six were injured in the attack, police said. The attacker also died.

In an update Wednesday, Örebro regional authorities said six people were being treated at the local university hospital.

Three women and two men, all adults, were admitted for gunshot wounds and underwent surgery. Initially thought to have life-threatening injuries, the authorities said the five are now in a “stable but serious” condition.

Another woman also received treatment for more minor injuries. No one else was admitted to the hospital overnight, authorities said.

By the time the attack began, many students had left the campus after taking a national exam on Tuesday, Lena Warenmark, a teacher, told Swedish public broadcaster SVT.

Mary Pegado, a 54-year-old teacher at the school, said she and her students had run to safety after someone burst into her classroom and told them to get out.

“I think of my students,” Pegado told Reuters. “Many of them have fled from countries where things like this happen, and now they experience it here. It is horrible,” she said.

What do we know about the perpetrator?

Not much, yet. Police said that the attacker was not known to them, that he was not connected to any gangs and that he was not believed to be acting based on ideological motives.

“At the moment, the police believe that the perpetrator was acting alone, but we cannot rule out more perpetrators connected to the incident,” police said Tuesday. They also did not say what type of weapon the perpetrator used.

Police said that the attacker also shot at officers after they arrived at the campus. In a press conference Wednesday, police said that when they found the attacker, he was already dead and that it appears that he shot himself. The attacker has not yet been identified by authorities.

How rare are attacks like these?

School shootings are rare, but Sweden – long associated with high living standards and a strong social safety net – has seen a surge in violent crime in recent years, driven in part by gang warfare.

In 2023, Sweden had the highest rate of deadly gun violence per capita in the European Union, according to Reuters. In 2024, at least 40 people were shot dead in the country of only 10 million people – down from a peak of 63 people shot dead in 2022.

Although Sweden has high rates of gun ownership by EU standards, Swedes have to obtain a license before being allowed to own a weapon and the country places tight restrictions on eligibility.

Prime Minister Kristersson called for an investigation into how Tuesday’s “horrific” crime could have occurred.

“We’ve today seen brutal, deadly violence against completely innocent people – this is the worst mass shooting in Swedish history,” he said.