Swedish police say their intervention in mass shooting prevented more deaths

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STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Swedish police said on Thursday that their intervention in a mass shooting earlier this month had prevented even more deaths in the country’s worst-ever killing spree.

The shooter, identified by Reuters and other media as Rickard Andersson, shot dead 10 people during a 15-minute killing spree on February 4 before turning the gun on himself at the Campus Risbergska adult education centre in the city of Orebro. The motive remains unclear.

Police arrived at the scene some six minutes after the alarm was first received and came under fire, but it took them an hour to find the shooter’s body, leading to questions from the media and some survivors about their handling of the incident.

Police said the campus was an “inferno” when officers arrived and that Andersson had let off three smoke grenades, making navigation difficult.

“After the perpetrator opened fire at our patrol only two more shots were fired,” Deputy Regional Police Chief Niclas Hallgren told a press conference. “A shotgun blast that didn’t hit anyone and another shot that ended the perpetrator’s life.”

Andersson, a 35-year-old unemployed recluse who owned four licensed firearms, killed himself twelve minutes after the first alarm. His body was found in the school next to three guns. He had fired 70 shots and had over 100 unused cartridges left, police said.

Police reiterated that they believe Andersson selected the victims at random and said they were sifting through vast amounts of material but had yet to find a clear motive for the attack.

“We are working broadly and we don’t rule out anything,” Deputy Police Operation Commander Emelie Bodegrim said. “But we might have to be ready for that we might not get the answers we wish.”

(Reporting by Johan Ahlander; Editing by Sharon Singleton)