OREBRO, Sweden—Swedish police found three rifles near the body of the gunman amid a chaotic scene they described as an “inferno” after 11 people were killed and several wounded in the country’s deadliest mass shooting, officials said on Feb. 6.
Police believe the suspected killer acted alone in Feb. 4’s attack on an educational campus in Orebro and may have had links to the school.
Law enforcement officials told a press conference the suspected attacker had a firearms licence for four weapons, three of which were found next to him when police located his dead body.
“The police who arrived at the scene have spoken about what could be described as an inferno ... dead people and injured people, screams, and smoke,” Orebro police chief Lars Wiren said.
Police found 10 empty ammunition magazines and a “large amount” of unused ammunition. Wiren said police arrived on the scene five minutes after the alarm was raised and believed the attacker then began directing his fire toward them.
“After approximately one hour, the acute operation was over when the suspected perpetrator was found dead with several weapons near him,” Wiren said, adding that police had not opened fire during the incident.
Police said the smoke was not caused by fire but by “some sort of pyrotechnics.” Several police had to seek medical attention for inhaling smoke.
Swedish authorities have said there was no evidence so far that the shooter, who was among the 11 dead after likely taking his own life, had “ideological motives.”
“We don’t see a clear motive, but we’re looking for it,” police investigations leader Anna Bergqvist said. “It’s a very difficult question, but it’s really important for all of us to be able to present a motive as soon as possible.”
Police have not confirmed the name of the suspect and are awaiting genetic data before making a conclusive identification two days after the attack at the school, which offers adult courses and Swedish language classes for immigrants.
“What we can say is that there is information indicating that he in some way had a link with the school. That is something we will have to look closer at,” Bergqvist told the news conference.
The attack took place at the Risbergska adult education center in Orebro, a city of more than 100,000 people some 125 miles west of Stockholm.
