Police say school sword attack had 'racist' motive
The Trollhättan attacker
Police believe the man behind a stabbing attack on a school in Trollhättan selected his victims because of their skin colour, while doctors say one injured pupil has regained consciousness.
Police have confirmed to Swedish media at a press conference in Trollhättan that they believe the attacker had racist motives.
Chief Investigator Thord Haraldsson said that the man had been violent towards people with "dark skin" and had spoken to others with "light skin" whom he did not hurt.
He said that officers had reached this conclusion after examining CCTV footage from the school.
In a separate earlier statement, police press spokesperson Peter Adlersson told the TT news agency that “how he was dressed and how he behaved” had also played a role in helping detectives to reach their conclusion.
Haraldsson also revealed that his officers had found "a type of suicide letter" at the attacker's home.However he remained unsure whether the assailant had chosen to attack the Kronan school specifically because it has a high percentage of immigrant pupils, but said "you could suspect" that was the reason.
The press conference took place after media reports identified the attacker as Anton Lundin Pettersson, describing him as a quiet 21-year-old opposed to Islam and immigration.
"He was a loner. He played video games, lived in his own world," a former classmate told Swedish tabloid Expressen.
Other news outlets said he had a YouTube account where he posted material glorifying Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany.
Police said at the press conference on Friday that they were convinced that the attacker had planned the violence alone.
Haraldsson said his outfit suggested Nazism and revealed that CCTV pictures also showed him marching through the school corridors in a military style.
The attacker walked into the building in Trollhättan brandishing a sword on Thursday. He killed a teacher and a 17-year-old student and seriously wounded two others. Police shot him at the scene and he later died from his injuries.
Some pupils at the school said they initially thought it was a prank even took pictures with the attacker. One of those photos was widely circulated on social media on Thursday before being published in Sweden's leading tabloid and broadsheet newspapers.
Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet reported on Friday that all of those who died or were injured in the stabbing spree had a "foreign background" and said that the 17-year-old had moved to Sweden three years ago.
Meanwhile, hospital spokespeople in the region confirmed on Friday morning that a 15-year-old teenager who was also injured in the attack remained in hospital but that his condition had improved.
"He has been awake and has been able to speak. The situtation is considered to be stable," Ulrika Jifland told TT.
Trollhättan, where the attack took place, is an industrial town in western Sweden with around 50,000 residents.
Like many municipalities in Sweden, it is taking in rising numbers of immigrants. According to Statistics Sweden, 3,046 foreigners moved there in 2014. But it is not a nationally notorious hotspot for violent or race-related crimes.
However, in a 2012 national survey when people were asked to rate how safe they felt during evenings and nights on a scale of one to ten, Trollhättan scored 5.1 compared with a national average of 6.5. When questioned about how much they feared threats, robbery or violence, the score was 5.1, in contrast to a 6.4 average for Sweden.
The Local Sweden
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