Nursing student Salim Iskef, 28, manages to make several calls while he lies seriously injured – to 911, to his fiancée and to his mother. A short distance away in one of the school's long corridors lies a 68-year-old teacher, also shot several times.
When the first police officers encounter Salim Iskef, he has 112 dialed on his phone. The teacher raises her arm to show the officers that she is alive, writes Sundkvist.
But the police pull back and leave them. Despite an increasing effort outside the school, it takes another half hour before the victims get help, but by then it's too late.
"This was an operation where the police's image did not reflect what actually happened. They created such a clear image of the brave police, but it was not true," says Frida Sundkvist.
According to her, the authority has not been open about why the three police officers who passed Salim and the teacher had retreated.
The preliminary investigation's interrogation shows how scared they were, how exposed they felt, and that one of them had started to think about their children, she says.
It's completely normal to be scared, it's completely normal to not be able to handle a situation like this. But then others have to come in behind. But they don't. They stand outside completely helpless and wait, says Sundkvist.
Had to watch the press conference
In her book "After the Shots," she has followed the families of the two victims and their contact with the police. According to Sundkvist, the response has been characterized by inaccessibility, broken promises, incorrect information and outright lies.
She cites several examples, such as the teacher's siblings being told by the police that their sister had died within minutes. It was only when the family watched the police press conference in May last year on SVT that they understood her death had been prolonged.
Outwardly, the police say they have the utmost respect for relatives and that they ensure they receive all the information, but then relatives have to watch a press conference on TV because the police don't bother to inform them first. It's clear they no longer trust the police after that.
Ombudsman's report
Together with Sundkvist, the families are now filing a complaint with the Ombudsman against the police - for not doing enough to protect lives, not releasing documents correctly, and for misleading relatives and the public.
"I don't know how the Ombudsman will view it, but it's probably good for them to test. Are you allowed to say such deliberately wrong things to relatives," says Sundkvist.
TT has contacted the police.
