Five people have been shot and wounded at a school in Sweden.
The shooting took place at an adult education centre, in the city of Örebro, some 125 miles west of Stockholm, on Tuesday afternoon.
Police said that a large operation is still underway at the Risbergska School campus, where there are several schools for both children and adults. They have urged people to stay away from the area or stay inside their homes.
The police said in a statement: “The danger is not over. The public MUST continue to stay away from Västhaga.” They added that students in nearby schools had been locked in “for safety reasons”.
The crime is being investigated as “attempted murder, arson and an aggravated weapons offence”.
A police spokesman told local outlet Expressen that the suspect had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. They initially said the “life-threatening” situation was over, before withdrawing the information.
Witnesses reported the sound of heavy gunfire during the shooting. Footage from inside the school showed students hiding underneath desks in classrooms.
Svanfridur Birgisdottir, one of the school’s principals, told Dagens Nyheter, a Swedish newspaper: “It’s a crisis.”
The five wounded victims have been taken to hospital. The extent of their injuries are unknown.
Local outlet SVT Örebro reported that the shooting was carried out with an automatic weapon.
School attacks are relatively rare in Sweden, but, in recent years, the country has grown more accustomed to shootings and bombings linked to gang violence that kill dozens of people each year.
Gunnar Strömmer, the justice minister, told Swedish news agency TT: “The reports of violence in Orebro are very serious.
“The police are on site and the operation is in full swing. The government is in close contact with the police, and is closely following developments.”
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Credit: Riksstudios
Images showed a heavy police presence around the school as ambulances waited outside.
The local hospital had emptied its emergency room and intensive care unit in anticipation of the wounded, according to reports in local media.
Risbergska School, home to 2,000 students, was previously a high school, but is now also used for adult education and for teaching Swedish to immigrants through a government programme known as SFI.
Police will hold a press conference at 3.30pm local time (2.30 GMT).
Several serious incidents have taken place at Swedish schools in recent years.
In March 2022, an 18-year-old student stabbed two teachers to death at a high school in the southern city of Malmo. Two months earlier, a 16-year-old stabbed a teacher and a student at a school in the small town of Kristianstad.
In October 2015, three people were killed in a racially-motivated attack at a school in the western town of Trollhattan by a sword-wielding assailant later killed by police.