Sword attack at school in Fagersta: one dead, three injured
An 18-year-old attacked people with a sword at a school in Fagersta, Sweden – a girl died and three people were injured.
Sword attack in Fagersta claims victim
An attack with a sword occurred at a school in Fagersta, north-west of Stockholm, on Friday at 14:00. According to the NZZ, a 17-year-old girl died in the attack – this was confirmed by the victim's family to the newspaper Fagersta-Posten. Other Swedish media outlets, including the news agency TT and Swedish public radio, reported the incident.
Three other people were injured, two of them severely. The suspected perpetrator, an 18-year-old man, was arrested at the scene. During the police operation, he was shot.
The affected school has approximately 450 pupils aged between sixteen and twenty. For some of them it was the first day back at school after the summer holidays. Following the incident, other schools in Fagersta were also cordoned off as a precaution.
The mayor of the municipality of 13,000 inhabitants expressed shock. "Our main focus and that of the school is currently on looking after our pupils and our staff," she told reporters. Work was underway to provide all those affected with the necessary support.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson cancelled a speech scheduled for Saturday. "Our thoughts are with those affected," he wrote on the platform X. King Carl XVI Gustaf stated in a message from the royal household that he had received the news "with consternation and sorrow."
Magdalena Andersson, leader of the Social Democrats, also wrote on X: "Terrible news from Fagersta. My thoughts are with those affected and everyone touched by this." All of Sweden stood alongside Fagersta during this difficult hour.
The attack comes nearly a year after a fatal shooting at a school in Örebro, in which a gunman killed ten people and subsequently took his own life – the most serious mass shooting in Swedish history.
Source: NZZ