A 17-year-old girl was killed in a sword attack at a school in central Sweden, police said, as authorities continued investigating the assault that left three others injured.
An 18-year-old man armed with a sword attacked Brinell School in Fagersta, northwest of Stockholm, on Friday while classes were in session. Three other people were wounded, two of them seriously, according to police and local authorities.
Västmanland County said the two seriously injured victims were boys aged 12 and 17. A third person, also under 18, suffered minor injuries and was later discharged from hospital, Swedish news agency TT reported. Police arrested the suspect and are investigating the case as murder and attempted murder.
The school's principal told Swedish broadcaster P4 Västmanland that the suspect was a student at the school. Police said they fired shots during the operation but did not hit the attacker. Authorities said they had no reason to believe that anyone else was involved.
Around 70 people gathered at a memorial site in Fagersta on Saturday, bringing flowers and lighting candles. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson visited the site and expressed solidarity with the victims' families and others affected by previous school attacks in Sweden. "What must never happen has happened again," he said. Opposition leader Magdalena Andersson also visited the town, while political parties suspended campaign events ahead of September's parliamentary election.
Police have not disclosed a possible motive. Investigators have carried out two house searches linked to the suspect and are expected to interview a large number of witnesses. The region was placed under a state of emergency on Friday, but the measure had ended by Saturday.
The attack adds to a history of deadly violence at Swedish schools. In 2025, 11 people, including the gunman, were killed in a shooting at an education centre in Örebro, in what was described as Sweden's worst mass shooting. In 2022, an 18-year-old man killed two teachers at a school in Malmö with a knife and an axe. In 2015, a 21-year-old man killed three people in a racially motivated attack at a school in Trollhättan before being shot dead by police.
