The man who carried out the ‘worst mass shooting’ in Sweden’s history was a withdrawn loner who was unemployed and struggled to make friends, relatives have revealed.
Eleven people were shot dead in the shocking attack at Risbergska School in Örebro’s Västhaga district on Tuesday.
The 35-year-old suspect turned the gun on himself following the rampage, according to police.
Investigators said they were trying to discover a motive but believed the attacker acted alone.
Authorities are yet to reveal the shooter’s identity, but relatives speaking to Swedish press painted a picture of a troubled recluse who had lost contact with his family and friends.
The shooter also legally changed his name eight years ago – a move that took family members by surprise.
‘We haven’t had much contact with him in recent years. As a child he was different but lively. He did well in school,’ one relative said.
‘But in recent years he has had a hard time. He is not working.’
Another added: ‘He’s really a loner. He used to have a friend he hung out with a lot, but not now. He wants to be by himself. He doesn’t seem to like people.’
They went on to say that the shooter had little contact with his parents who are ‘out travelling a lot’, but that he liked to ‘take care of their dog’.
Police officers work at the scene of the Risbergska School in Orebro, Sweden
Forensic investigators are seen at the scene of a shooting overnight
Terrifying footage captured the moment the Swedish school shooter paced the corridors of the building before his deadly rampage
A man lights a candle near the Campus Risbergska school, following a deadly shooting attack at the adult education center in Orebro, Sweden, February 5, 2025
A team of armed cops conducted a raid on the suspect’s house yesterday afternoon.
Police refused to provide details of the raid to Swedish press, but TV4 claimed the shooter had no previous convictions and was not known to authorities.
He also possessed a firearms license.
The details emerged as the death toll rose from at least 10 to 11 overnight, with police saying: ‘At this time, there are 11 deaths due to the incident. The number of injured is still unclear.
‘We currently have no information on the condition of those who have been injured.’
Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson described the tragedy as the ‘worst mass shooting in Swedish history, adding: ‘Today, we have witnessed brutal, deadly violence against completely innocent people.’
He later added: ‘My thoughts, the thoughts of all of Sweden, are now with first and foremost with those who are the direct victims of this heinous act. Your grief is our grief. We are with you.’
Carl Gustaf, the King of Sweden, also paid tribute to the victims in a statement from the Royal House.
‘With sadness and dismay, my family and I have received the information about the terrible atrocity in Örebro,’ the King wrote.
‘We send our condolences tonight to the families and friends of the deceased. Our thoughts at this time also go to the injured and their relatives, as well as to others affected.’
The King also thanked the staff who worked on the operation during and after the shooting.
‘My family and I would like to express our great appreciation for the police, rescue and medical personnel who worked intensively to save and protect human lives on this dark day.’
Emergency personnel gather after a shooting at Risbergska School in Orebro, Sweden, 04 February 2025. According to police, five people were shot at the school
Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the incident was the ‘worst mass shooting in Swedish history’
The Swedish King, Carl Gustaf, thanked the staff who worked on the operation during and after the shooting
The president of the European Commission says her thoughts are with the victims of Tuesday’s attack in Sweden.
Posting on X, Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday’s events were ‘truly horrifying’.
‘Such violence and terror have no place in our societies – least of all in schools. In this dark hour, we stand with the people of Sweden.’
Gunnar Strommer, the justice minister, also said it is difficult to take in the magnitude of what has happened.
‘We know that about ten [now 11] people have been killed and many others are injured,’ he said.
‘Our police and healthcare workers are taking care of these people.
‘The primary suspect is now considered to be one of the people that died. It was a person not known to the police previously.
‘We still don’t know why this happened or what the motives could have been. We hope to have those answers.’
Sweden’s conservative opposition party leader revealed he went to school where the shooting took place.
Liberal Party leader Johan Pehrson said he was a pupil there when the campus was previously used as a high school.
A clip shared on Snapchat by one horrified student shows a crowd sprinting away from the location of the shots
Emergency services at the scene of an incident at Risbergska School
The attack was a ‘black day’ for the country, he added, saying his thoughts were with all those affected.
Sweden’s finance minister, who lives in Orebro and whose son attended the school, called the incident ‘unimaginable and sad’.
Elisabeth Svantesson told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet: ‘When our eldest son ran out of the same school with his student cap on his head, the air was full of expectation and joy.
‘Now the same place is instead characterised by violence, anxiety, darkness and fear.’
Green Party spokesman Daniel Helldén said: ‘Terrible what we are being told from Örebro. My thoughts go out to everyone who is affected: students, staff, relatives. It is unacceptable that this is happening and that the violence is spreading more and more.’
Social Democrat Teresa Carvalho added that she is ‘following with horror what is happening in Örebro’.
‘Thinking of all those affected and worried about their relatives,’ she wrote on X.
It comes after terrifying footage emerged of the heavily armed Swedish school shooter stalking the corridors during his fatal rampage.
The clip, shared on local media, captured the gunman pacing through the hallway of the adult education centre.
During a press conference, Örebro police district chief Roberto Eid Forest said that the perpetrator is not known to be a part of any gang, and reassured there is ‘no danger ahead’.
Authorities also do not believe there is any terrorist motive behind the school shooting and believe he acted alone.
Six adults were taken to the emergency room at Örebro University Hospital following the shooting, Åsa Svennebäck, the health and medical communications officer in the Örebro region, confirmed.
Roberto Eid Forest, head of the local police district, gives a press conference after a shooting at Risbergska School in Orebro, Sweden, 04 February 2025
‘We received six. Of them, five were shot’, she said. A final death toll and a conclusive number of wounded has not yet been determined.
The damage at the crime scene was so extensive that investigators were unable to be more definitive, Forest added.
Expressen initially reported that Örebro’s University Hospital received five shooting victims, four of which underwent surgery. Two were said to have been stabilised, while one escaped with minor injuries.
An earlier clip shared on Snapchat by one horrified student moments after the incident shows a crowd sprinting away from the location of the shots.
‘There’s a shooting, oh my God!’ one student is heard screaming as the shots ring out. Another video circulating social media showed armed police brandishing their weapons as they surrounded the school.
A body can be seen lying immobile on the pavement just outside one building. It is unclear whether this was the shooter or a victim.
During the shooting, an individual who knew a teacher from the school received a heartbreaking message from them.
‘He wrote that there was automatic weapon shooting at the school and that they had taken shelter in a room. Then he wrote that he loved me,’ the unnamed man told local newspaper Aftonbladet.
Police special forces are seen leaving the scene of the Risbergska School in Orebro, Sweden
Armed police are seen taking positions around the school. A body is seen lying outside a building
A major police operation is underway at Risbergska School in Örebro, Sweden, on February 4, 2025
Shots were reported at Risbergska School, an adult education establishment in Örebro’s Västhaga district, shortly after 12:30pm local time.
The school serves students who are over the age of 20, according to its website.
Primary and upper secondary school courses are offered, as well as Swedish classes for immigrants, vocational training and programmes for people with intellectual disabilities.
The violence broke out after many students had gone home following a national exam.
An image taken inside the school and published by Swedish press showed students cowering in their classrooms, barricading the doors with chairs and desks as alarms blared.
Lena Warenmark, a teacher at Risbergska, told SVT: ‘We heard gunshots very close to our study. There were probably ten shots.’
Dozens of police cars and ambulances descended on Västhaga as police locked down the school, establishing a perimeter around the building. Armed officers were seen approaching the school with weapons drawn.
A police helicopter flies as a major police operation is underway at Risbergska School, following reports of a serious violent crime, in Orebro, Sweden, February 4, 2025
Shots were reported at Risbergska School in Örebro’s Västhaga district
A suspected school shooting has taken place in the Swedish city of Örebro with reports of automatic weapons fire as a major police operation was launched
Police in the city located 200km west of Stockholm issued a statement in the wake of the shooting warning the public to avoid the area as they searched for the attacker.
‘The public is urged to stay away from the Västhaga area, alternatively stay indoors in their homes or go the other way.
‘Listen to the police officers at the scene. The operation concerns threats of deadly violence. The operation is still ongoing,’ their statement said.
A spokesperson said officers were investigating ‘attempted murder, arson and an aggravated weapons offence’.
Sweden has recently earned a reputation as the EU’s gun homicide capital.
In all of 2023, 53 people were killed in shootings across Sweden, which is home to around 10.5 million people. In 2022, that figure stood at 62 – and Stockholm’s per-capita murder rate was roughly 30 times that of London.
Experts say the violence has been driven by a number of factors: Turf wars between gangs, a growing drugs market, an influx of guns into the market, growing inequality, high level of immigration and also a failure of migrant integration into society.
Mafia groups abroad have called the country a ‘haven’ for their activities, while organised crime groups have infiltrated business sectors and found ways to smuggle military-grade weapons into the country.
