The suspected gunman, who was among the dead, was named in media reports as Rickard Andersson, 35, a former student of the school who lived locally.

Swedish police said they were still investigating the motive behind the country's deadliest mass shooting, as local media began reporting details about the gunman. The suspect, named in reports as 35-year-old local man Rickard Andersson,

The police responding to the attack encountered firing so intense that they struggled to tell how many gunmen were on the scene, an official said.