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Sweden invests €27m in school security after mass shooting

Rickard Andersson killed 10 people on 4 February at the Campus Risbergska adult education centre
Rickard Andersson killed 10 people on 4 February at the Campus Risbergska adult education centre

Sweden's government has said it would be dedicating 300 million kronor (€27 million) for school security measures following the country's worst mass shooting at an education centre last month.

On 4 February, 35-year-old Rickard Andersson entered the Campus Risbergska adult education centre in the city of Örebro and shot dead 10 people before turning his gun on himself.

"In the beginning of February this year, the worst mass shooting in Swedish modern history occurred," Education Minister Johan Pehrson told a press conference.

What should have been a "place for knowledge and future opportunities became an unfathomable crime scene", Mr Pehrson said.

He noted that reports of threats and violence at Swedish schools had increased by over 150% over the last 10 years.

The Education Minister said grants will be available for security cameras

He said: "Safety in Swedish schools has unfortunately deteriorated over time.

"More and more students and teachers go to school with a great deal of anxiety."

Mr Pehrson said the government would introduce "grants for security-enhancing measures totalling 300 million kronor" - primarily for cameras or security checkpoints.

The Swedish government also said it would be presenting a bill to parliament that would introduce a requirement for schools to have "an emergency plan and ongoing preparedness work".

The proposal, which would also give schools the right to search students' bags, was first presented the week after the Risbergska shooting.

Police have struggled to pin down a motive for the mass killing, saying they were looking into the shooter's living situation after describing him as an unemployed recluse.

Police say he had no previous criminal record and had a hunting licence for four guns.

They have not publicly identified the victims, but their foreign backgrounds soon came to light when their names and photos were published in Swedish newspapers and on social media, sparking concern among immigrants in the country.

Police officers working at the scene of the shooting at Risbergska School last month

School attacks are relatively rare in Sweden, but the country has experienced shootings and bombings linked to gang violence that kill dozens of people each year.

Despite the rarity of shootings, such as the incident that occurred at Campus Risbergska, several other violent incidents have struck Swedish schools in recent years.

In March 2022, an 18-year-old student stabbed two teachers to death at a secondary school in the southern city of Malmö.

Two months earlier, a 16-year-old was arrested after wounding another student and a teacher with a knife at a school in the small town of Kristianstad.

In October 2015, three people were killed in a racially motivated attack at a school in the western town of Trollhättan by a sword-wielding assailant who was later killed by police.