There is nothing to suggest that Rickard Andersson was driven by any political or ideological motives when he carried out the massacre at the Campus Risbergska adult education center in Örebro on February 4.
– We believe that his life situation and the frustration it created were the underlying motives. The motive we see is his desire to take his own life, said Henrik Dahlström, head of the police investigation.
Ten people were killed and six injured in what has been described as the worst mass shooting in Swedish history, and there has been much speculation about the perpetrator's motives.
Since the shooter was Swedish and several of the victims had immigrant backgrounds, it has been claimed that he was driven by xenophobic or racist motives, but the police do not give much credence to this explanation.
– Based on what we have found, there is a complete lack of communication or signs of involvement with ideological or political motives. Nothing in the act suggests that this was an act of revenge against a specific person or group of people, Dahlström explains.
”Long-term and repeated setbacks"
Instead, it is believed that the perpetrator's miserable life situation led him to commit the act.
"The suspected perpetrator experienced prolonged and repeated setbacks in his livelihood. He was dependent on certificates from the healthcare system to secure it. His life situation meant uncertainty, reassessments, and rejections over a long period of time, as well as a livelihood that was never permanent or stable", the police wrote, among other things.
– We see that it is his life situation and the frustration it creates that are the basis for the motive. The motive we see is his desire to take his own life. In connection with this, he chose to take out his perceived frustration and aggression on the people around him in a place he had a connection to – Campus Risbergska, the commanding officer continues.
Shot "at everyone he saw"
There is nothing to indicate that Andersson selected the people he shot at – instead, he “in an almost methodical manner, shot at everyone he saw” and the victims are described as random.
“The people who died and those who survived with serious injuries represent the majority of the students and staff who were at the school", the report continues.
However, the police add a caveat to their assessment, stating that there could be connections that have been overlooked during the investigation, as Andersson's mobile phone and two hard drives are missing and have not been analyzed.
"Wanted to create chaos"
Between 2019 and 2021, Andersson was enrolled at Komvux to retake his high school mathematics exams. However, he failed and dropped out on his own initiative.
He obtained a gun license in 2011, citing his interest in hunting, and in the fall of 2024, according to the police, he began planning his attack – including purchasing ammunition and smoke grenades, as well as the guitar case in which he transported his weapons.
– The suspect had prepared himself with weapons and ammunition to be able to act against a very large number of people. The use of smoke gives the impression that he wanted to create chaos in order to cause as much damage as possible and hinder the rescue efforts, said Henrik Dahlström.
It should be noted that the TV channel TV4 attempted at an early stage to sell a racist motive by claiming that Andersson had uttered the phrase "you must leave Europe". However, critics were quick to point out that the channel itself seemed to have invented this interpretation, and it soon spread widely as a textbook example of how disinformation by the establishment media can look.
