A Syriac-speaking community in Sweden is mourning a victim of a mass shooting after it emerged that a refugee from Aleppo was one of 10 people killed at an adult education centre in Orebro.
Salim Iskef was shot dead on Tuesday by an unemployed Swedish gunman with no clear motive for attacking the school. Another Syriac speaker was among those injured, and Syria's embassy in Sweden said at least two victims were from the Middle East country, with police yet to release names of all of the dead.
Mr Iskef, 29, had fled Syria 10 years ago after ISIS militants killed his father. He was due to get married in the summer and had recently bought a house in Sweden with his fiancée.
“He had so many beautiful plans and so many beautiful dreams,” Jacob Kaselia, a friend of the family and priest at St Mary's church in Orebro, told Reuters after leading a memorial service for Mr Iskef in front of about 400 people on Thursday. “All gone in a second.”
After Mr Iskef was shot, he called his mother and fiancée to tell them that he loved them. It was the last they heard from him. “His fiancée is totally destroyed,” said Mr Kaselia. “We try to help her, but honestly, it's very hard.”
The Syriac-speaking community, a Christian group with roots in the Middle East, has almost 200,000 members in Sweden, of whom 5,000 live in Orebro. Several were at the school when the gunman opened fire before apparently turning one of his weapons on himself.
The Risbergska adult education centre, where the attack took place, offers adult courses and Swedish language classes for immigrants. Police said people of various ages and nationalities were killed and injured in the shooting. Bosnia's foreign ministry said on Thursday that a woman from the Balkan country had been killed, citing relatives who had contacted its embassy.
Swedish broadcaster TV4 published a video filmed by a student hiding in a bathroom, in which shots were heard outside and someone could be heard shouting: “You will leave Europe!” Detectives were investigating reports that the attacker might have been a student at the school at some point.
On Friday the UAE strongly condemned the attack. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed that the UAE expresses its strong condemnation of these criminal acts and its permanent rejection of all forms of violence aimed at undermining security and stability, Wam reported.
The ministry expressed its solidarity with the government and people of Sweden, and with the families of the victims.
Gun crackdown
Sweden, although accustomed to gang violence, has not had school shootings on this scale before. Ministers announced on Friday that they would seek to amend Swedish gun laws and restrict access to semi-automatic weapons.
“There are certain types of weapons that are so dangerous that they should only be possessed for civilian purposes as an exception,” the government said in a statement. It said “the horrific act of violence in Orebro raises several key questions about gun legislation”.
Police said several long-barrelled weapons were found when the suspect's body was discovered. He had a licence for four weapons, three of which were found next to him.
The government said it specifically wanted to restrict access to semi-automatic weapons, such as the AR-15. “The AR-15 is an example of a weapon that is compatible with large magazines and can cause a lot of damage in a short time,” it said.
