At least one person was killed, and three others were injured after an 18-year-old man armed with a sword attacked students at a Swedish high school on Friday (local time).
The attacker, a former student at the where he carried out the attack, was shot and detained by the police, Reuters reported.
Here’s what we know
A shooting took place Friday afternoon at Brinell High School in Fagersta, a central Swedish town with around 13,000 residents, northwest of the capital . The incident came shortly after the school reopened following the summer break, with some students attending classes for the first time since the holiday.
Police spokesperson Pelle Vamstad told TT that authorities were alerted to the incident shortly after midday on Friday. Officers then established a large security perimeter around the school. Authorities also said several schools in the vicinity were placed under lockdown, while roadblocks were erected as police responded to the situation, AP reported.
Addressing a press conference after the attack, police said the suspect was an 18-year-old who was shot and later taken into custody on suspicion of . Citing SVT, the public broadcaster, the report noted that the attacker was wearing a helmet and carrying a sword and had a previous assault conviction.
Tommy Alriksson, the local police chief, said officers responded quickly to the school, which has 450 students aged 16 to 20. He said, “The first patrol entered and let us know that the perpetrator was subdued with gunfire.” Alriksson also stated, “We have no reason at this time to believe that there are multiple perpetrators,” and added that an investigation was underway.
According to the local health authority, among those injured were two teenage boys between 12 and 17 years old who sustained severe injuries, while a third injured person was released from the hospital.
Students recall horror
Following the attack, students recalled the horror, with one student stating, “First it was just a regular day really. But then … I saw a guy all covered in blood, at least down his back anyway. Then I saw the police, and they flooded in.”
Another said that he had seen a victim with a bloody stab wound in the arm and added, “Then people called the police, and we just all ran from there because we were afraid.”
TikTok connection
In connection with Friday’s attack, police were also investigating a account that posted a picture of a sword roughly 20 minutes before the incident occurred.
According to Dagens Nyheter, the picture was reportedly taken in a school restroom, based on the background details. Additionally, before the month-old account was taken down on Friday, it contained videos that referred to two different episodes of mass violence in the country, along with Norwegian far-right mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik.
Sweden’s King, PM issue statements
In response, Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson expressed his condolences. In a post on X, he wrote, “Today, a horrific act took place at Brinellskolan in Fagersta. Once again, an attack on a school that shakes both the local community and our entire country. As the police have reported, one person has lost their life, and three people have been injured.”
He added, “Our thoughts today go to them, and to their relatives and friends. We are also thinking of all the others who were at the school—students and school staff whose school day turned into a nightmare. We also know that several schools in the municipality today have had to provide shelter. Many anxious families waited for hours.”
In a statement released by the royal household, Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf said that he received the news of the attack “with dismay and sadness.”
Fagersta Mayor Asa-Marta Sjostrom said the small town was shaken. Addressing reporters, she said, “Our and the school’s main focus right now is to take care of our students and our employees.”
Sweden’s worst mass shooting occurred in February 2025, when a killed 10 people at a school in the south-central city of Örebro before turning the weapon on himself.
(with agency inputs)
