Salim Iskef, 29, fled the Islamic State and Syria to form a better, more secure life in Sweden, only to be gunned down this week in the worst mass-shooting in Swedish history.

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.

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,