An attacker armed with a sword injured several people on Friday at a school in central Sweden, and the police subsequently arrested a suspect, authorities reported.
The attack took place at Brinell School in the city of Fagersta, a town of 13,000 inhabitants northwest of the capital, Stockholm, the city council reported. The school has 450 students aged between 16 and 20 years.
Police spokesperson Pelle Vamstad, quoted by the news agency TT, said an alert was received early Friday afternoon and that police quickly moved to the scene. He added that officers would review security camera footage for the investigation.
“We received an alarm at 14:06 about an alleged deadly act of violence and sent all available resources to the school,” a police spokesperson told Reuters.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, in a post on the social network X, lamented the “serious incident” that occurred in Fagersta “just after the summer holidays.”
“There are reports of injured people. We still do not know the motives for the attack, but we know that the police are working intensively,” he added. “Our thoughts are with all those affected.”
Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson, whose center-left coalition holds a clear lead in opinion polls ahead of next month’s parliamentary elections, said that “all of Sweden stands with Fagersta in these difficult times.”
The Fagersta city council reported that it set up a crisis center in a sports hall near the school.
The government of Västmanland County, where Fagersta is located, indicated that “many people” were affected and that police, firefighters, and medical personnel were among those providing assistance, The Associated Press reported.
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The school had just reopened after the summer holidays and, for some students, that day marked the first day of classes in high school.
The local newspaper Fagersta-Posten spoke with Madelene Jansson outside the school, which her daughter attended. “First I received a text message from her saying that someone had been stabbed and that the police were already on their way. Then, everything got out of control. It seems unreal,” she said.
The Västmanland County authority announced that it had declared a maximum alert state. “We have adopted the maximum alert state to mobilize our resources and obtain the clearest possible view of the situation. This will allow us to make the right decisions,” said Jonas Cederberg, director of medical and health services, in a statement.
The Swedish government is in close contact with the police following Friday’s attack, Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer said in a statement to Reuters.
The incident comes one year after the shooting at a school in Örebro, also in central Sweden, where an armed man killed 10 people before committing suicide.
The attack was considered the deadliest mass shooting in Sweden’s history. Investigators indicated that the perpetrator appeared to be motivated by severe economic and psychological difficulties, as well as a desire to end his own life.
Earlier, in March 2022, an 18-year-old student attacked a high school in Malmö, killing two teachers with a knife.
Another deadly attack occurred in October 2015 in Trollhättan, where three people died in a racist attack at a school. The attacker, who carried a sword, was shot dead by the police.
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