They scrambled for cover as quickly as they could as shots rang out, sheltering behind whatever they could find to escape the gunman and the gore. One survivor with children feared she might never see them again. Here are witness accounts of the carnage that also seriously wounded at least five people and horrified the Scandinavian nation where gun violence at schools is very rare. Hellen Werme, 35, thought of her two children, ages two and three, as she heard the gunman pacing outside the classroom where she and five other people hid.
I did not know if I would get shot there and then, or in ten minutes. The report said Werme, three classmates and two teachers were about to start a lesson on how to install catheters on patients when they heard the first shots Tuesday at the Campus Risbergska adult training school in Orebro, about kilometers miles west of Stockholm.
Mirna Essa, who studies Swedish at the school, described a bone-chilling moment to the Dagens Nyheter newspaper. It was chaos within a few seconds.
It was like a movie. Essa was among adult students at the school, which offers Swedish-language classes for immigrants and vocational training for people with intellectual disabilities.
Broadcaster TV4 interviewed a student who said she performed first aid on a man who was shot in the shoulder. TV4 identified her only by her first name, Marwa. When I looked behind me I saw three people on the floor bleeding. Everyone was shocked. Get out! People were very shocked.
