Several nationalities among Sweden school shooting victims, police say

Syrian embassy says its citizens were among 11 killed in attack by lone gunman in Örebro. Europe live – latest updates. People of several nationalities were among the 11 killed at a school in Sweden’s worst mass shooting, police have said. Anna Bergkvist, who is leading the police investigation, told Agence France-Presse that people of “multiple nationalities, different genders and different ages” were among those killed by a lone gunman at Campus Risbergska, an adult education centre, in the city of Örebro on Tuesday.

The Syrian embassy in Stockholm said its citizens were among the dead. Until now, police had revealed little about the victims or the gunman, other than he was believed to have acted alone. “With deep sorrow and grief, the embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic in the Kingdom of Sweden expresses its strong condemnation of the criminal incident that took place in the Swedish city of Örebro, which resulted in … innocent victims,” the embassy wrote on its official Facebook page.

“It extends its sincere condolences to the families of the victims, including dear Syrian citizens, and to the friendly Swedish people, and we wish a speedy recovery to the injured. It also affirms its full solidarity with the Swedish government and people in these painful circumstances.”. It added: “The embassy stands by the families of the Syrian and Swedish victims and wishes continued security, stability and prosperity for the Kingdom of Sweden.”.

The Guardian has contacted the Syrian embassy in Stockholm and the police for comment about the nationality of the victims. The suspected gunman, who was among the dead, was named in media reports as Rickard Andersson, 35, a former student of the school who lived locally. He is understood to have attended some maths classes at the school a few years ago and had been unemployed for a decade. Police on Thursday again declined to confirm his identity until they had DNA confirmation. They have previously said the suspect had no known connection to criminal gangs and that there was nothing to suggest he had acted on ideological grounds.

On Thursday, police said the suspect had a licence for four weapons – all of which have been seized by police – three of which were next to him at the scene when officers secured him. Bergkvist said: “What we can say is that there is information that he may in some way be connected to the school, that he may have attended this school previously.”. Sign up to Headlines Europe. A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day.

after newsletter promotion. Police said although “the picture is starting to clear” in the investigation, they were “not ready to give detailed answers. We want to be sure before we speak.”. They said they had searched the suspect’s home, examined his phones and had been scouring film and sound clips submitted by witnesses. They said officers were met by an “inferno” when they arrived at the school about five minutes after the alarm was raised at 12.33pm on Tuesday.