One Dead, Four Injured After Sword Attack At Swedish School

A masked man wielding “knife-like weapons” killed one teacher and wounded another as well as two boys at a school in western Sweden on Thursday before being shot by police.

Police said the suspect, a man in his 20s, was being treated for injuries at a hospital. The motive for the attack was not known.

“Young people have been attacked. It is terribly tragic,” police spokesman Thomas Fuxborg told reporters.

The incident occurred at the Kronan school in Trollhattan, an industrial town of about 50,000 inhabitants north of Gothenburg. Prime Minister Stefan Lofven was expected to arrive at Trollhattan later on Thursday.

Photos by a local news agency showed several ambulances and police cars on the scene as emergency service staffers dealt with distraught adults and teenagers. A police cordon was marked out with white tape.

Police said they had responded to an emergency call saying a masked man with a sword was on the premises and that a person had been attacked at a cafeteria.

“Four persons have been taken to the hospital from the school,” said Niklas Claesson, head of communications at NAL hospital in the town of Trollhattan.

Claesson said the attacker had used “knife-like weapons”.

“The assailant is being treated for gunshot wounds. The other people treated at the hospital are young but not kids. Some of them have serious injuries and are being operated on. One person is deceased at the scene.”