Horror at Sweden’s ‘worst mass taking pictures’: PM and King categorical ‘disappointment and dismay’ – as loss of life toll ‘hits ten’ and pictures reveals heavily-armed shooter storming faculty campus

The Prime Minister and King of Sweden have expressed their ‘sadness and dismay’ following the country’s ‘worst mass shooting‘ which has left at least ten people dead.

The shocking attack took place at Risbergska School in Örebro’s Västhaga district on Tuesday, with the shooter – a 35-year-old man, eventually turning the the gun on himself according to police.

Following the brutal shooting which killed around ten adults, reportedly including the attacker, no other information about the victims has been released.

Police said they were trying to discover a motive but believed the attacker acted alone, and that further attacks were not expected.

Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said of the ‘worst mass shooting in Swedish history’: ‘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 shared 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.’

The president of the European Commission says her thoughts are with the victims of today’s attack in Sweden.

Posting on X, Ursula von der Leyen said today’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 today.

‘We know that about ten 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.

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, but have not yet ruled out the possibility that there may have been others involved as they continue their investigation into the tragic incident.

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.

‘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 are said to have been stabilised, while one escaped with minor injuries. 

A team of armed cops conducted a raid on the suspect’s house around 4:30pm local time and explosions were reported at the property. 

Police refused to provide details of the raid to Swedish press, but TV4 claimed the shooter had no previous convictions and possessed a firearms license.  

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.

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. Police vehicles and ambulances blanketed the car parks and streets around the school as a helicopter buzzed overhead in shocking scenes broadcast on Swedish television.