By Johan Ahlander, Marie Mannes
OREBRO, Sweden (Reuters) -The worst mass shooting in Swedish history was carried out by a 35-year-old Swedish man who lived locally, had been unemployed for a decade and had changed his first and last name, a police source and tax data show.
Swedish media named the suspect as Rickard Andersson. The police source also named Andersson as the alleged gunman.
Police did not publicly confirm the age and profile of the attacker, who killed at least 11 people and wounded others before apparently turning his weapon on himself in Tuesday’s shooting at an adult education centre in Orebro, 200 km (125 miles) west of Stockholm.
Aftonbladet reported that, according to documents viewed by the paper, the man had previously been enrolled at the school for several mathematics classes, without finishing them. The most recent class he was enrolled for was in 2021.
Police said the suspect, who died at the scene, was not known to them prior to the event and had never been convicted of any crime. They also said he had no gang connection and was believed to have acted alone.
Police said nothing so far pointed to an ideological motive behind the attack, in which the suspect fired at police when they arrived at the school. They said they later found him dead.
Little has been said publicly about the victims. Students and teachers have told Reuters and local media that they tried to save the lives of their comrades before fleeing the scene.
Andersson appeared to have little online presence and Reuters could not immediately find any social media accounts that were linked to him.
Aftonbladet, which spoke to relatives of the man believed to be the shooter, described him as a recluse who had limited contact with his family for years.
The paper said the man did not have a high school certificate.
Swedish public broadcaster SVT, which did not cite its sources, said the attacker, like many in Sweden, had a hunting licence and used a hunting weapon.
Tax data showed that the attacker last declared work-related income in 2014 and that he lived in a one-bedroom apartment in a low-rise building less than a kilometre (around half a mile) from the city centre.
The school where the attack was carried out teaches adults who did not complete school or are seeking higher grades to access higher education. It is located on a campus that also houses schools for children.
The country has a high level of gun ownership by European standards, mainly linked to hunting, though it is much lower than in the United States. A gang crime wave has highlighted the high incidence of illegal weapons in Sweden.
Citing unnamed sources, Aftonbladet reported that the attacker hid his weapon in a “guitar-shaped” box and changed clothes in the school bathroom before he started shooting.
(Reporting by Johan Ahlander in Orebro and Marie Mannes in Stockholm; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Saad Sayeed, Philippa Fletcher and Alex Richardson)
