Teacher and pupil killed in Sweden school ‘sword attack’

A SWORD-WIELDING masked man stabbed four people at a school in southern Sweden, killing a teacher and a student before being shot dead by police, authorities said.

Swedish police officers secure the area outside a primary and middle school in Trollhattan, southwestern Sweden. Picture: Getty

Students fled from the Kronan school in Trollhattan, near Goteborg, Sweden’s second-largest city, as the attack took place in a nearby cafe just after 10am yesterday. The school has 400 students ranging from pre-school to high school.

Police arrived to find one male teacher already dead and three other people seriously wounded - two male students aged 11 and 15 and another male teacher, police spokesman Thomas Fuxborg said. Police fired two shots, one of which hit the attacker.

One student and the attacker died later at the hospital.

The attacker, a 21-year-old from Trollhattan, knocked on the doors to two classrooms and stabbed those who opened them, police spokesman Thord Haraldsson told a press conference. He said the man had “sharp stabbing weapons,” which another police official said may have included a sword.

Police searched the attacker’s home and found “interesting” things, Haraldsson added, without elaborating.

Laith Alazze, a 14-year-old student at Kronan, said at first he thought the attacker - who was clad in black and wearing a mask - had something to do with Halloween.

“One of my friends walked over to him to challenge him, but when we saw he stabbed him (the teacher), we ran away,” Alazze told Sweden’s TV4.

The attacker had gunshot wounds to his lower chest and died later yesterday at the hospital, officials said.

Police spokeswoman Maria Randsalu said the second victim was a student, but did not name them.

The three wounded, all in serious condition, underwent surgery at the Norra Alvsborgs Lanssjukhus hospital. Doctor Lars Spetz told reporters the teacher had been stabbed in the abdomen while the two students were stabbed in the abdomen, liver and chest.

“They hover between life and death,” Spetz said.

Swedish media said the school held a meeting yesterday morning to discuss teachers’ fears that they could not control access to the school.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who went to the scene, described yesterday as a “black day”.

“My thoughts go out to the victims and their families, the students and staff, and the whole community that has been affected,” Lofven said. “No words can describe what they are going through right now.”