Deadly knife attack at school in Fagersta shocks Sweden

The morning after, the Brinellskolan campus in Fagersta, Sweden, is still cordoned off. Police cars can be seen. Candles have been burning on a lawn since the evening - and there are more and more of them.

During the night, two 16-year-old students came to the place, Elsa and Lena. In a conversation with Swedish television, they expressed their bewilderment. "It's terrible that something like this is happening in Fagersta. And what's particularly bad is that we know the people."

It has been clear since morning: the fatality was a 17-year-old student. The young woman's parents confirmed this to a local newspaper.

"That's so sad"

The school year had just started. Everyone knows everyone here, says Lena in an interview with the Swedish reporter.

The first year of high school had just taken a team building course, says Lena. "Some of us wanted to get something from school for this - and then someone lost their life here. That's so sad."

Perpetrator is said to have glorified massacres

At the press conference on Friday evening, the police revealed relatively little about the perpetrator. He entered the school armed with a sword in the early afternoon. In addition to the dead 17-year-old, two students were seriously injured and one was slightly injured.

The police arrested the perpetrator. What is known is that it is an 18-year-old who apparently once went to school himself. According to Swedish media reports, he is said to have posted a sword on his TikTok account shortly before the crime. The account is now blocked.

He is also said to have glorified various school massacres on his account. It is also known that the perpetrator had already been convicted of a violent attack on a student as a teenager.

Series of acts of violence in Swedish schools

Thursday's attack is one of a series of serious acts of violence at Swedish schools. Just last February, eleven students were killed and 15 injured in a school shooting in Örebro.

Justice Minister Gunnar Stremmer admitted in a radio interview that more needs to be done. “We have done a lot since the terrible act in Örebro,” said Stremmer. But clearly more needs to be done - "even if that always has to be weighed against the restriction of other interests." First and foremost, the school must be a safe place for all students.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson expressed his dismay at the crime and canceled an election campaign appearance. King Carl XVI made similar statements. Gustaf. He understands that students, parents and teachers are worried not only in Fagersta but across the country. His thoughts are with the victims and their families.

Parliamentary elections in three weeks

The attack in the small town in central Sweden also overshadowed the election campaign in the country. A new parliament will be elected in three weeks, on September 13th. Regional and local elections will take place at the same time.