Sweden searches for answers after country’s deadliest shooting
Nick Beake
Europe Correspondent
Reporting fromOrebro, Sweden
BBC
Ismail Moradi told the BBC he fears there was a racial element to the shooting
Ismail Moradi, 16, would normally be carrying his textbooks into school.
But on Wednesday he was clutching a bunch of red flowers to lay in tribute to those murdered in Sweden’s worst ever mass shooting.
“I was shocked and didn’t know if I wanted to come to school today after what happened so nearby” he explains to us.
Ismail’s own elementary school is next to the adult learning centre that was targeted yesterday.
Although police still have not given a motive for the attack, Ismail – who is Kurdish – says he fears there was a clear racial element to the shooting.
“In this school, it’s only newcomers to Sweden. There’s not so many Swedish people. So, I think it was targeted for one special group of people.”
All day, there’s been a steady procession of locals lighting candles and gazing across to the school site which remains sealed off.
Vacant faces in the icy wind reflect the sense of shock that has gripped many Swedes in the past 24 hours.
A hush descended on the scene when Sweden’s King arrived to leave his own flowers. The solemnity echoing the national mood as flags fly at half-mast.
The collective grief is complicated by the lack of any explanation for the assault. The police, now in the midst of huge investigation haven’t given away anything to that end.
Trying to build a profile of a “clean skin” – someone not previously known to the police or security service – makes any probe all the more difficult.
But the scale of the loss of life means the public and politicians want answers from the police now.
More than 100 specialist officers are involved, on a local, regional and national level.
Unconfirmed reports in the Swedish media say the gunman was a 35-year-old local man who legally owned a gun.
Reham Attala says the shooting has made her reconsider whether she has a future in Sweden
Reham Attala, 21, is a law student also thinks it was no coincidence this college – popular with immigrants – was chosen, rather than others which were reported to be near the suspect’s home.
“I’m so sad and scared” she tells us at the site of the shooting. “This shouldn’t have happened.”
Reham explains that her dad is Syrian and her mum is Palestinian but for her Sweden is home. She’s has lived in Orebro for the past 11 years.
She is alarmed that the gunmen attacked a school where Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) courses are known to be taught.
“Those people lost yesterday were studying Swedish and this make me think about my future and am I even going to live here, should I have children here? All these questions.”
People should be free to learn and live in peace on campus without fear of this happening, she sighs.
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