One killed, three injured when man attacks Swedish school with sword

An 18-year-old man armed with a sword attacked students at a Swedish high school on Friday, killing one person and injuring three. Police shot and detained him at the scene.

Media reports say the attacker was a former student at the school.

What happened in the Swedish school sword attack?

An 18-year-old former student attacked Brinell high school in Fagersta, central Sweden, with a sword on Friday afternoon, killing one person and injuring three others. Police shot and detained the suspect, who is under investigation for murder.

The attack occurred as the school reopened after summer recess, on the first day back for some students.

Where did the attack take place?

The attack happened at Brinell high school in Fagersta, a central Swedish town with about 13,000 residents.

The school has 450 students aged 16 to 20. Local police chief Tommy Alriksson said officers responded quickly once the alert was raised.

"The first patrol entered and let us know that the perpetrator was subdued with gunfire," he said.

Who was the attacker?

Public broadcaster SVT, citing unnamed sources, reported the attacker wore a helmet and carried a sword, and was a former student at the school with a previous conviction for assault. Police have not officially confirmed his identity. He remains in custody on suspicion of murder.

What do we know about the victims?

The local health authority said two victims were teenage boys who were severely injured. A third injured person was treated and released from hospital.

The identity and condition of the person who died has not been detailed in official statements so far.

How did students describe the attack?

Brinell student Nellie described a normal day turning chaotic. "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," she told Reuters alongside her mother, Agnes Strandberg, after a five-hour lockdown at the school.

Another student, Abdulrahem Salmo, said he saw a victim with a bloody stab wound in the arm. "Then people called the police and we just all ran from there because we were afraid," he told SVT.

Several other schools and public buildings in Fagersta were also locked down as a precaution. Fagersta Mayor Asa-Marta Sjostrom said the small town was shaken by the attack.

"Our and the school's main focus right now is to take care of our students and our employees," she told reporters. "We are working together to create safety and provide support to those who need it."

How have officials responded?

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson cancelled a speech scheduled for Saturday, news agency TT reported. "Our thoughts are with all those affected," he wrote on social media platform X. Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf said in a statement that he received news of the attack "with dismay and sadness."

Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson, whose centre-left coalition leads opinion polls ahead of next month's parliamentary election, said all of Sweden stood with Fagersta. Her statement reflected a broader political response to the attack across party lines.

Was there a warning before the attack?

According to the Aftonbladet daily, police are investigating a TikTok account linked to Friday's violence that posted a picture of a sword 20 minutes before the attack. Dagens Nyheter reported the picture appeared to be taken in a restroom at the school, based on details in the background.

Before the month-old account was taken down on Friday, it contained videos referencing two earlier episodes of mass violence in Sweden, along with Norwegian far-right mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik.

Have there been similar attacks in Sweden before?

Sweden's worst mass shooting occurred in February 2025 at a school in the south-central city of Orebro, when a gunman killed 10 people before turning the weapon on himself.

In 2015, a masked swordsman killed a teaching assistant and two boys at a school in Trollhattan, western Sweden, before being shot dead by police, who later said the attack was racially motivated.