Swedish police found no racist or radical motive for February school shooting

By Johan Ahlander and Anna Ringstrom

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Swedish police have found no clear motive behind the country's deadliest mass shooting in February, but said on Friday there was no evidence the shooter held racist or radical views and that mental illness and financial strains were likely factors.

The perpetrator, named by police as Rickard Andersson, shot dead 10 students and teachers at the Campus Risbergska school in the city of Orebro before killing himself on February 4.

The 35-year-old Andersson, a former student at the school, was described by police in an update on the investigation as a recluse with a long history of mental illness and a precarious financial situation.

He owned four licensed firearms and appeared to have chosen his victims at random, firing at all he encountered. While most of the victims were of immigrant background, police said that was a reflection of the students enrolled at the school.

"The motive that we see is his desire to take his own life," police Commander Henrik Dahlstrom told a press conference, adding Andersson wanted to vent his frustrations and probably picked the campus due to his past affiliation with the school.

Police body camera footage released on Friday showed officers entering the building with drawn weapons shortly after the first alarm. They followed blood traces in search of victims and the perpetrator in the deserted school hallways with the fire alarm sounding but retreated when fired upon.

"Back off, back off, they are shooting at us with a rifle," a police officer was heard shouting as shots rang out.

Police said Andersson had gone to some lengths to leave as few traces behind as possible, both online and in real life. His mobile phone and the hard drives to his computers have not been retrieved.

Andersson had picked up the guitar case he used to transport the guns to the school from his childhood home several months before the shooting, police said. He had cleaned out his apartment and sold off his possessions before the attack.

He had gun and hunting licences, but police found no evidence he had ever had any interest or participated in hunting or recreational shooting. 

Andersson arrived at the school hours before he started shooting and camped out in a restroom where police later found traces of amphetamines. He had almost 200 unused ammunition rounds when police found his body.

"We now know that the police's actions saved many lives," Dahlstrom said.

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, Stine Jacobsen and Johan Ahlander, editing by Niklas Pollard and Alex Richardson)