The local head of police, Roberto Eid Forest, told reporters that investigators were working to determine more information about the shooting.
“The investigation is somewhat unclear,” he said during the briefing. “It is unclear whether the shooting took place inside the school (building) or whether there may be more perpetrators.”
Gun violence at schools is very rare in Sweden. But there have been several incidents in recent years in which people were wounded or killed with other weapons such as knives or axes.
Police would only say that the gunman was one of the people hospitalized after Tuesday's shooting. Four of the five people who were shot underwent surgery, including one person who was seriously wounded. Two others were described as stable and another was considered slightly injured, Jonas Claesson, regional director of health and medical services, said during the news conference. Police said that no officers were shot.
The school, called Campus Risbergska, serves students who are over age 20, according to its website. Primary and upper secondary school courses are offered, as well as Swedish classes for immigrants, vocational training and programs for people with intellectual disabilities.
The shooting erupted after many students had gone home following a national exam. Police vehicles and ambulances, lights flashing, blanketed the parking lots and streets around the school as a helicopter buzzed overhead.
Teacher Lena Warenmark told SVT News that there were unusually few students on the campus Tuesday afternoon after the exam. She also told the broadcaster that she heard probably 10 gunshots.
Students sheltered in nearby buildings. Other parts of the school were evacuated following the shooting, which began at around 12:30 p.m. local time (1130 GMT).
Andreas Sundling, 28, was among those forced to barricade themselves inside the school.
“We heard three bangs and loud screams,” he told Expressen newspaper while sheltering in a classroom. “Now we’re sitting here waiting to be evacuated from the school. The information we have received is that we should sit and wait.”
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that it was “a very painful day for all of Sweden,” Swedish media reported.
“My thoughts are also with all those whose normal school day was exchanged for terror,” Kristersson said. “Being confined to a classroom with fear for your own life is a nightmare that no one should have to experience."
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Geir Moulson contributed to this report from Berlin.
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