It was about 12:30 p.m. on a grey Tuesday in Orebro, Sweden, when gunfire erupted at an grownup training heart, with college students and academics at school. Minutes later, as an alarm wailed, the police charged into the middle, Campus Risbergska, the place they encountered a chaotic, smoke-filled scene. It could be hours earlier than they gave an all-clear.
“An inferno. Useless folks. Injured folks. Screams and smoke,” Lars Wiren, Orebro’s police chief, mentioned Thursday at a information convention as he described the scene.
The capturing in Orebro, a quiet college city in central Sweden that has change into a haven for migrant communities, has left the nation reeling. The nationwide authorities has described the assault because the worst mass capturing in Sweden’s historical past, and flags across the nation are flying at half-staff. Within the days after the assault, the authorities are nonetheless looking for to know why a person entered the campus and opened fireplace. At the very least 11 folks have been discovered useless, the police mentioned, and the suspect was believed to be amongst them.
The police haven’t publicly recognized the gunman or shared any particulars a couple of potential motive. Swedish information retailers have recognized him as Rickard Andersson, a 35-year-old who lived alone in an condo close to the college.
The police haven’t confirmed the stories, and The New York Occasions has but to independently verify the gunman’s id. Officers have begun to share how the assault unfolded, describing a closely armed assailant who labored alone.
When officers entered the college on Tuesday, it was stuffed with smoke from pyrotechnics, Mr. Wiren mentioned. The police got here beneath a hail of gunfire so intense that officers couldn’t inform what number of shooters have been on the scene, he added. Via the smoke, officers noticed a person approaching them and carrying what gave the impression to be a rifle.
The person continued to shoot, emptying a number of magazines of ammunition. Within the chaos, not one of the 130 cops selected to return fireplace, the police chief mentioned.
“It’s a must to respect the state of affairs. There’s panic among the many college students, the academics,” Mr. Wiren mentioned. “There’s smoke. The circumstances have to be proper so as to fireplace.”
After about an hour, officers later discovered the gunman among the many useless. Close to his physique have been three weapons, together with the rifle. Scattered close by have been at the very least 10 empty magazines and unused ammunition, Mr. Wiren mentioned.
Law enforcement officials fanned out throughout the four-acre campus, trying to find victims and probably extra perpetrators in an operation that lasted over three hours, in accordance with a police timeline of events.
In one of many lecture rooms, Hellen Werme and different college students hid for at the very least two hours beneath tables and hospital beds used for coaching. As quickly as pictures rang out, they locked the door and hid on the far facet of the room, she mentioned. At one level, they heard the gunman move by.
“We have been very quiet. He was shut,” Ms. Werme, 35, recalled a day later. “I might hear his steps, however then the pictures have been additional and additional away.”
The scholars and their instructor huddled in concern till they heard loud raps on the door, and voices yelling, “Police!”
“Once we noticed the police I cried tears of pleasure,” she mentioned. “I simply seemed on the police and adopted all of them the best way out.”
By late afternoon, the police had sufficient purpose to consider that the suspect within the capturing had been rushed to a close-by hospital, in accordance with an internet assertion. With the college nonetheless beneath lockdown, they began an investigation that included close by suburbs, questioning residents.
Police mentioned they’ve recognized the suspect and have been awaiting DNA affirmation, Anna Bergqvist, an investigating officer, mentioned on Thursday on the information convention. He had no prior convictions and was not beforehand identified to the police. Investigators have traced 4 firearm licenses to the suspect, Ms. Bergqvist mentioned.
Within the final two days, officers have searched his condo, seizing pc gear and telephones. They have been additionally learning hours of video and audio recordings.
“We predict the image is beginning to come into focus, however we will’t present any particulars but,” Kristoffer Zickbauer, one other investigating officer, mentioned Thursday.
A information outlet, Aftonbladet, reported that Mr. Andersson, the person native media have recognized because the shooter, lived an remoted life, alienated from family and friends.
