18-year-old student kills peer in sword attack at Swedish school

Police said an 18-year-old male student armed with a sword entered Brinell School in Fagersta, northwest of Stockholm, during classes on Friday. One 17-year-old girl was killed and three other pupils were injured, two of them seriously.

The suspect was arrested at the scene; police fired shots but did not hit him. The investigation is being treated as murder and attempted murder, and authorities say there is no evidence of additional attackers.

Local officials reported that the two severely injured boys were 12 and 17 years old, while a third minor suffered minor injuries and has been released from hospital care.

"The attacker was a student at the school," the school principal told local radio.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who visited the memorial site on Saturday, said, "What must never happen has happened again," expressing solidarity with the victims' families.

Around 70 people gathered at a municipal memorial, laying flowers and lighting candles. Political leaders, including opposition head Magdalena Andersson, suspended campaign activities ahead of September's parliamentary election.

Swedish national police have conducted two house searches linked to the suspect and plan to interview numerous witnesses. The region's emergency measures imposed on Friday were lifted on Saturday.

The attack adds to a series of violent incidents at Swedish schools in recent years, including a 2021 mass shooting at an education centre in Örebro and a 2022 knife and axe assault in Malmö.