European classrooms under attack
14 February 2025
Sweden is mourning the deadliest mass shooting in the country's history, which happened at Campus Risbergska, a school for adults in Örebro in Central Sweden on 4 February. A total of 10 people were murdered by the 35-year-old Rickard Andersson, a former student at the school, who committed suicide soon after the police arrived at the scene.
Andersson has been described by those who knew him as 'socially isolated' – a loner who was not on the police’s radar, had no identifiable social media accounts, and, according to his former classmate who spoke to Swedish public broadcaster SVT, became "difficult to contact" in highschool.
Andersson doesn't appear to have any connection to the Swedish gang conflicts that are raging in the country; however, he did have a gun licence for hunting. The vast access to guns granted to the country’s many hunters is now being debated in the aftermath of these events. As for the reason for the mass shooting, it remains unclear, but since most of the victims have an immigrant background, a racist or extremist motive is being considered, according to the investigators.
"I’m not sure we’ll find a motive. What I am absolutely certain is that we will find out circumstances surrounding the offender that will form the basis for an assessment of probable causes of this," deputy regional police chief in Bergslagen, Niclas Hallgren, told the SVT.
Elsewhere in Europe, similar tragic events in the past couple of years have turned places of learning into danger zones. Croatia was rocked by a horrible attack at an elementary school in Zagreb in December, where a young man stabbed a seven-year-old child to death and injured five others. In April, a 12-year-old killed 1 child and seriously injured 2 others in Finland’s latest school shooting. In 2023, the Czech Republic mourned the country’s deadliest mass killing, after 14 people were shot dead and 25 people were injured in Prague’s Charles University. In May 2023, Serbia was left in shock after a 13-year-old boy killed 9 children and a security guard in a school in Belgrade.
 | Jokin de Carlos Sola and Amalie Holmgaard Mersh The reasons behind all the attacks vary, but many at least appear related to mental health. In the cases where the murderers commit suicide after their killing spree solid conclusions can be difficult to determine. Andersson was socially isolated, the murderer in Croatia was suffering from severe mental illness, and the 12-year-old killer in Finland said it was due to bullying. In the meantime, there’s less information about the Czech and the Serbian gunmen, the latter having had easy access to guns at home. Overall, one of the most recognised prevention strategies is strengthening mental health services and supporting the social and emotional needs of students. It is often claimed that the prevalence of guns correlates with mass shootings. While the US, where mass shootings are very common, is estimated to have 120 guns per 100 people, all countries in Europe rank below 40 per 100 people. A range of school shootings happened in Europe between 1996-2009, particularly in Germany and Finland. In the former, attempts to set up government-led national networks to spot potential attackers may have led to an improvement in school shootings. However, a high prevalence of gun ownership doesn’t alway correlate with many school shootings, exemplified by Switzerland, where there are around 27 guns per 100 people. This puts it at 11th place in the top 25 countries with guns globally, but shootings are rare. |
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