OREBRO, Sweden: Swedish police found three rifles near the body of the gunman amid a chaotic scene they described as an “inferno” after 11 people were killed and several wounded in the country’s deadliest mass shooting, officials said on Thursday (Feb 6).
Police believe the suspected killer – identified by a Reuters source and Swedish media as Rickard Andersson, a 35-year-old unemployed recluse – acted alone in Tuesday’s attack on an educational campus in Orebro.
Law enforcement officials told a press conference the suspected attacker had a firearms licence for four weapons, three of which were found next to him when police located his body.
“The police who arrived at the scene have spoken about what could be described as an inferno … dead people and injured people, screams and smoke,” Orebro police chief Lars Wiren said.
Police found 10 empty ammunition magazines and a “large amount” of unused ammunition. Wiren said police arrived on the scene five minutes after the alarm was raised and believed the attacker then began directing his fire towards them.
“After approximately one hour, the acute operation was over when the suspected perpetrator was found dead with several weapons near him,” Wiren said.
Police said the smoke was not caused by fire but of “some sort of pyrotechnics”. Several police had to seek medical attention for inhaling smoke.
