Sweden to invest $39.3 million in school security after mass shooting
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A makeshift vigil near a school in Sweden after a shooting there. Reports of threats and violence at schools rose by more than 150 per cent over the last 10 years.
PHOTO: AFP
STOCKHOLM – Sweden’s government said on March 20 that it would be dedicating 300 million kronor (S$39.3 million) to school security measures, following the country’s worst mass shooting at an education centre in February.
On Feb 4, 35-year-old Rickard Andersson entered the Campus Risbergska adult education centre in the city of Orebro 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,” Sweden’s 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 more than 150 per cent over the last 10 years.
“Safety in Swedish schools has unfortunately deteriorated over time. More and more students and teachers go to school with a great deal of anxiety,” he added.
Mr Pehrson said the Swedish 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.
The 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.
The 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 the country’s immigrants. AFP
