Masked man kills two in sword attack at Swedish school

Friday, October 23, 2015

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A masked man killed a teacher and an 11 year old student in a sword attack at a school in Trollhättan, Sweden yesterday, before police who arrived at the scene fatally shot him.

The teacher died on the scene, while the student was sent to a hospital before he died.

In addition, three others have been injured in the sword attacks. The injured, who are hovering "between life and death" according to Doctor Lars Spetz, have been sent to the Norra Älvsborgs Länssjukhus hospital for treatment.

	It is a black day for Sweden.
—Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister of Sweden

"It is a black day for Sweden," Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister of Sweden, who later visited the school, said in response to the attack.

Bo Johansson, head of the Swedish Teachers' Union, expressed concern that schools are too open. Johansson said that schools should not be so open that "anyone can walk in," even though "of course schools should be open to society."

The school in question, Kronan, had a high immigrant population, The Guardian reported. Expo, a non-profit anti-racist organization which publishes the Expo magazine, said online that authorities are "investigating a possible political motive," citing unspecified sources. Expo adds that the attacker may have held racist views, stating that he had shown "clear sympathies for extreme right-wing and anti-immigrant movements," and that the attacker has "'liked' videos glorifying Nazi Germany" on the online video sharing site YouTube.

The man, dressed like the Star Wars character Darth Vader, posed for a photo with students, who believed that he was pulling an early Halloween prank, before he started attacking others with a sword. A student who attends the school said that fellow students "initially thought it was a joke." The photo showed the man holding a sword and wearing a helmet.

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Trollhättan school attack

Sources

Lizzie Dearden. "Sweden school attack: Sword-wielding man 'posed for pictures with pupils' before killing child and teacher" — The Independent, October 22, 2015
David Crouch. "Sweden school attack: horror as sword attacker kills teacher and pupil" — The Guardian, October 22, 2015
Maria-Pia Cabero, Jonathan Leman, and Alex Bengtsson; translation: Morgan Finnsiö. "School killer showed far-right sympathies on social media" — Expo (magazine), October 22, 2015

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