One killed, three injured in sword attack at school in Sweden
A suspect has been taken into custody after the attack at a high school in Fagersta, local authorities said.
An attacker armed with a sword has killed one person and injured at least three others at a school in Sweden.
The 18-year-old assailant was shot and arrested after the attack at Brinellskolan (Brinell School) in Fagersta, police chief Tommy Alriksson told journalists.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 items- list 1 of 3At least three killed in Sweden shooting: Police
- list 2 of 3‘I did nothing wrong’: Sweden’s migration regime hardens, upending lives
- list 3 of 3How a Swedish Palestinian minister raised controversy with Star of David
One person was found dead after police entered the school.
Two “seriously injured” boys aged 12 and 17 were taken to hospital, followed by a third person, Jonas Cederberg, director of health and medical services for Vastmanland county authority, told news agencies.
There was no immediate word on the attacker’s motive.
Swedish police said officers rushed to the scene after receiving a call “regarding a case of ongoing deadly violence at a school in Fagersta” just after 2pm local time (12:00 GMT).
Public broadcaster SVT said ambulances, police cars and a police helicopter were on the scene in the small city of about 12,000 people in central Sweden. The school has about 450 students aged 16 to 20, the Reuters news agency reported.
Detectives would be looking for camera video that could be used in the preliminary investigation, said police spokesman Pelle Vamstad, quoted by the TT news agency.
‘We do not yet know what lies behind the act’
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson lamented the “serious incident” in Fagersta “right after the summer break.”
“We do not yet know what lies behind the act, but we know that the police are working very intensively,” Kristersson said in a statement on X. “Our thoughts are with all those affected.”
Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer said the government was closely following the situation.
“The police are on site and are working very intensively on the incident. The government is in close contact with the police and is monitoring developments on an ongoing basis,” he said.
King Carl XVI Gustaf said he received the news of yet another school attack with “dismay and sadness.”
It is the latest in a series of high-profile attacks at Swedish educational institutions.
Sweden’s worst mass shooting was in February last year when a 35-year-old man killed 10 people at an adult education centre in Orebro. Police said the attack was motivated by the killer’s wish to end his life because of financial and psychological problems.
In March 2022, an 18-year-old student fatally stabbed two teachers at a secondary school in the southern city of Malmo.
And in 2015, a sword-wielding assailant was killed by police after he killed three people in a racially motivated attack at a school in the western town of Trollhattan.
