Sweden: Two people injured in shooting near Orebro mosque

Stockholm, Aug 15 (IANS) Two people were injured in a shooting near a mosque in Sweden's Orebro city on Friday, according to the local police. A major police operation is being conducted and the people have been asked to stay away from the area, local media reported.

Police received the call regarding the violent crime near Orebro mosque on Friday at 1:45 pm (local time), Sweden-based SVT Nyheter reported. According to police, two people were injured in the shooting. The extent of the injuries is not clear.

A preliminary probe into "attempted murder" has been initiated. People have been asked to avoid the area and follow roadblocks placed by the authorities. Several rescue units and police, including seven ambulances were present on the site of the incident.

Anders Dahlman, Press Spokesperson of the Bergslagen police stated, "We are fully hunting the perpetrator right now. We are of course doing this by gathering information through witness interviews and we are conducting extensive investigative work with internal intelligence as we call it."

According to witness accounts to SVT News, a person was shot while he was leaving the mosque. The witness said, "He was on his way out of the mosque. Then another man came up and fired four, five shots." According to witness accounts, a person was shot during Friday prayers at the mosque at Boglundsangen. Several shots were reportedly heard at the site of the incident.

Earlier in February, 11 people were killed and six others were injured in the school shooting in central Sweden's Orebro, Xinhua News Agency reported. While addressing a press conference, Orebro Police Chief Roberto Eid Forest had emphasised that the priority now is to determine the attacker's motivation. He urged the public to rely only on verified information. "Rumours and speculation create more distress," he said.

This was the first school shooting in Sweden since 1961. While there have been previous cases of fatal violence in schools, they were primarily carried out with knives, according to Swedish media.

--IANS

akl/as