Syrian refugees killed in the Swedish gunman’s attack at the school

Syria’s embassy for Stockholm says Syrians were among the 10 victims of a gunman who completed the worst shooting in Swedish history at a school in Orebro this week.

The suspected gunman, named locally as 35-year-old Rickard Andersson, was killed in the attack, but police have not yet identified him and have not given a motive.

The embassy’s announcement on its Facebook page was the first indication of who was killed in Tuesday’s attack on Risbergska School.

It provided no details of the number of Syrians caught in the attack, but said, “We offer our sincere compassion and sympathy with the victims’ families, including dear Syrian citizens and to the friendly Swedish people.”

Anna Bergkvist, the head of the police investigation, told the BBC that police could only confirm that people with several nationalities and ages were caught in the attack.

Salim Yrkef, a 29-year-old Orthodox Christian who fled the war in Syria in 2015, has been named one of the 10 victims of the shooting.

Santa Maria Church in Orebro said his life was tragic in the attack. Swedish Reports said he had become a Swedish citizen and was going to get married in June.

His aunt told the Arabic linguistic site alcompis that he had made a video call for his mother to say he had been shot and asked her to look after his fiancé.

Two Bosnian citizens are also among the victims, Bosnia’s ambassador has told Swedish Daily Expressen. One was injured and the other was missing, he said. The Bosnian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed its condolences and spoken of Orebro’s great Bosnian society.

Orebro police said the alarm was raised at 1 p.m. 12:33 (11:33 pm GMT) on Tuesday, and after about five minutes the first patrols reached the school, sitting on a large educational campus about 200 km (124 km) west of Stockholm.

Regional Police Chief Lars Wiren on Thursday told a news conference that 130 police officers eventually reached the school.

They faced what could only be described as an “inferno” when they entered the school buildings on Tuesday, he said, “Dead people, screams and smoke.”

He talked about a scene with chaos, with people running into and outside a very large school that extends over approx. 17,000 square meters.

The wire told the BBC that there was no evidence that the bombs had been detonated, but said there was thick smoke that could have come from the suspect who set fires or smoke grenades.

He said they thought the suspect had fired against police but that officers were not firing back. The shooter was found dead on stage over an hour later.

Police investigator Anna Bergkwist said the suspect had killed himself.

She confirmed that three guns were found on the stage next to the gunman, a total of four who are known to be legally registered to the suspect.

However, she refused to comment on the types of guns or ammunition used.

Police remain close to both the suspect and the possible motive behind the attack.

Bergkwist explained that the delay in naming the suspect was due to the wait for DNA tests to be matched.

The Swedish police are usually careful about naming suspects and would not normally do it in front of charges laid, but Bergkwist said they expected to make an exception in this case and release a name in the coming days.

Risbergska School supplies adult education to people aged 20 who did not complete primary or secondary school, as well as Swedish classes for immigrants.

Young residents of Orebro had already expressed fear of a racial element of the shooting, and the Syrian statement confirmed that immigrants were among the victims.

A video broadcast by Sweden’s TV4 was recorded during the gun attack from a school toilet where the words “Away from Europe!” heard.

It is not clear who shouted the words and the police have been careful not to discuss a motive.

However, Bergkwist seemed to remove an early statement from the authorities on Tuesday that the motive for the attack was not ideological.

“Why they said it, I can’t comment,” she said. “We look at different motives, we will declare it when we have it.”

Rickard Andersson has been described locally as a loner, and a report from the Swedish site Aftonbladet suggested that his attack could have targeted local social services.

A source told the place that he had argued with a social worker after losing his welfare services because he had not done enough to find work.

Police previously said the suspect had no previous conviction, no apparent connections to gangs, and they did not believe the attack was motivated by terrorism.