Sweden shooting: Five people shot at education centre in Orebro

Five people have been shot at an education centre in central Sweden, police say.

The shooting happened in Orebro, 200km (124 miles) west of the capital, Stockholm, on Tuesday afternoon.

Police are continuing to ask the public to stay away from the area, but have said in a statement that they believe the danger to be over. All of the people injured have been taken to hospital and four have undergone operations for their injuries.

One person is critically injured, but there could be others wounded, said Jonas Claesson, who represents local health services in the area.

Multiple Swedish outlets have reported that several people have been killed in the school shooting, but police have said they cannot comment at this time on whether there were any fatalities.

“This is currently seen as an attempted murder, arson and aggravated weapons offence,” police said in a statement.

Police heard reports of a shooting taking place at Risbergska school – an adult education centre – at 12:33 local time (11:44 GMT). The facility sits on a campus that is home to other schools.

These centres are attended primarily by people who have not finished primary or secondary school.

Police have started an investigation and have evacuated nearby schools, local police chief of Orebro, Roberto Eid Forest, said at a news conference.

He also confirmed the suspect is a man, but did not provide any additional details about the individual.

An update on the Swedish police website said officers “suspect one of the people in the hospital is the perpetrator”.

Earlier, students at several nearby schools were being kept indoors “for security purposes”.

“We don’t want members of the public to go there,” Forest warned.

Nearby hospitals are clearing their emergency rooms and intensive care units to free up space for patients, local reports said.

Teacher Lena Warenmark told SVT, Swedish public radio, she heard around 10 gunshots close to her study.

The Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that today is “a very painful day for all in Sweden” as he shared that those who had a “normal school day” replaced “with terror” are all in his thoughts.

“Being confined to a classroom with fear for your own life is a nightmare that no one should have to experience,” Kristersson said in a post on X.

“The government is in close contact with the Police Authority and is closely monitoring developments.”

His justice minister, Gunnar Strommer, echoed those remarks, telling local broadcaster SVT “the news of an attack at Orebro is very serious”.

A news conference will be held later tonight by the Swedish government about the incident, local media report.