What happened?

Risbergska School, the site of the attack, is an adult educational institute which sits on a large campus including other schools. It sits on the west side of Örebro, Sweden’s sixth-largest city around 200km west of Stockholm.

Around 10 people have been killed in the shooting, Örebro’s district police chief has told reporters.

Detectives are still identifying the dead and cannot yet provide any details about the victims, Roberto Eid Forest told a press conference, according to Swedish broadcaster SVT.

Armed police swooped and exchanged bullets with the suspect in the attack that saw students barricade themselves in classrooms after 1pm local time (12pm GMT). The suspected perpetrator was found with a gunshot wound, police said.

Andreas Sundling, 28, was among those forced to barricade themselves inside the school. “We heard three bangs and loud screams,” he told the Expressen newspaper while sheltering in a classroom.

Maria Pegado, 54, a teacher at the school, said someone threw open the door to her classroom just after lunch break and shouted to everyone to get out.

“I took all my 15 students out into the hallway and we started running,” she told Reuters by phone. “Then I heard two shots but we made it out. We were close to the school entrance.”

“I saw people dragging injured out, first one, then another. I realised it was very serious,” she said.

Police originally said five people were taken to hospital, four of whom had undergone surgery. They later confirmed about 10 people had been killed.

Police are describing the incident as an “attempted murder, arson and aggravated weapons offence”, and they dispatched helicopters to the scene as part of the major response. Authorities believe the imminent danger is now over.

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What do we know about the suspect?

Police believe the perpetrator is among those killed in the school shooting, and that they acted alone.

“At the moment we are confident that no more attacks will occur. The schools that were occupied have been evacuated,” police chief Roberto Eid Forest said, according to broadcaster SVT.

However, detectives are not ruling out the possibility that multiple people were involved and that the situation could change, he added.

Police said that there were no suspected connections to terrorism at this point.

Police also told reporters that the suspect – believed to be among the dead – was not previously known to police, and had no known connection to any gang.

What has the reaction been?

Hours after the shooting took place, Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson said it is a “painful day” for Sweden.

Writing on X, he said: “It is with sadness that I have received information about the terrible act of violence in Örebro. My thoughts are with those who have been affected and their relatives.

“My thoughts are also with all those whose normal school day was replaced with terror. Being confined to a classroom with fear for your own life is a nightmare that no one should have to experience.

“The government is in close contact with the Police Authority and is closely monitoring developments. The operation is still ongoing and it is important that the public follows information from the police. My call is also to now give the police the peace of mind they need to investigate what happened and how these horrific crimes could have occurred,” he added.

Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer described the attack as “very serious” adding that the government is “following developments closely”. Mats Persson, minister for employment and integration, said there is a “continuous dialogue with the police” regarding the situation.