Having arrived from Syria in 2015, Salim Iskef, 28, was taking courses to become a care assistant. He was due to marry in June. Nursing home employee Elsa Teklay, 32, born in Eritrea and the mother of four children, was taking the same course. Syrian baker Bassam Aa-Sheleh, 48, was learning Swedish. Aziza H., 68, from Kurdistan, was teaching mathematics. All were killed on Tuesday, February 4, in an attack on the Campus Risbergska adult education center in Örebro, a town 200 kilometers west of Stockholm.

Most of the 10 dead and six wounded in the worst mass shooting in Sweden's recent history were of foreign origin. According to the police, the shooter, who committed suicide, was Rickard Andersson. He was 35 and lived in Örebro. The lack of any statement of motive suggests that this was the act of an unstable person. But the identity of the victims is fueling debate about a possible ideological motive, in a context marked by the rise of the far right and increasingly outspoken anti-foreigner rhetoric in the public arena.

Almost nothing is known about the murderer. None of his neighbors knew him. He didn't seem to have any friends. Andersson is an enigma. He had no job, no income and no social media accounts. According to local newspapers, he saw a psychologist at the age of 13 and attended a class for autistic children in high school. Graduating without a diploma, he was not allowed to do his military service. He did, however, have a permit for four weapons. Three were found near him on February 4.

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