Two dead, three hurt in Sweden school attack

The suspect behind a stabbing spree at a school in west Sweden has been confirmed dead. A boy and a teacher also died and two others remain in hospital following the attack.

                                                The scene outside the school shortly after the attacks
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• 21-year-old suspect confirmed dead
• Pupil and teacher dead and three injured in school attack
• Another pupil and teacher being treated in hospital
• 'If I had not run, I would have been murdered,' student tells The Local
• PM Stefan Löfven: 'A dark day for Sweden'

The attack took place on Thursday morning at the school, around 75km from Gothenburg, after a man wearing a mask walked into a building on the premises.

Police spokesman Stefan Gustafsson later told Swedish media that the attacker had used “several knife-like objects”.

A hospital in Trollhättan confirmed that a teacher died in the incident.

Police then told the TT news agency that one of two boys aged 11 and 15 who were being treated for serious stab wounds at Trollhättan hospital had died.

A 21-year-old suspect was confirmed dead just after 4pm on Thursday, with officials adding that they did not think that anyone else was involved in the incident.

Police said they were alerted to the violence at the school at around 10.10am and arrived within five minutes of being called.

 

They explained that there had been a threat against another school in the area (Stavreskolan) on Wednesday but said that nothing had come of this.

 

Detective Thord Haraldson told a press conference in Trollhättan that officers had discovered the attacker on the first floor of the school building.

 

He added that officers had fired two shots, with one of them hitting the assailant, after the suspect had first attempted to attack officers.

 

The officer said if the police hadn't reacted as quickly as they, did the situation could have been much worse. Pre-school children had been visiting the school's library earlier in the day.

 

Earlier media reports said the attacker was wearing a Star Wars mask, and school children initially thought it was a prank.

 

"When we first saw him, we thought it was a joke. He was wearing a mask and black clothes and (carrying) a long sword. Some students warned to take their picture with him and feel the sword," one unidentified pupil told TT.

 

A picture reported to be of the alleged attacker was circulating in Swedish media on Thursday afternoon. 

Swedish broadcaster TV4 has suggested that officers are investigating a possible political motive for the attack and suggested that the suspect was known to be against rising immigration in the area.

 

Haraldsson confirmed during the press conference that reports the suspect had far-right believes were part of the investigation, but said he did not want to comment further.

An ambulance crashed into the school wall as it arrived at the scene.

However Detective he told Swedish meda that several "things that are of interest" had been discovered when searching the home of the suspect, who he said was not previously known to police.

  A teenage student at the school told The Local of the moment he realised what was happening:

“I was in a classroom with my class when one of my classmates’ sisters called her to warn her that there was a murderer at the school. So we locked the door to the classroom, but our teacher was still outside in the corridor.”

“We wanted to warn him, so a few of us went outside and then I saw the murderer, he was wearing a mask and had a sword. Our teacher got stabbed."

“The murderer started chasing me, I ran into another classroom. If I had not run, I would have been murdered. I’m feeling really scared. Everyone’s scared here."

Around 400 pupils are understood to be taught at the school, aged between six and 15.

Trollhättan is an industrial town in west Sweden, located around 75km north of Gothenburg, the nation's second largest city.

According to Sweden's education watchdog, the Swedish Schools Inspectorate, only 16 percent of 15-year-olds at the school passed all subjects in 2014. It is among the 10 worst performing schools in Sweden.

"This is a school where problems have been picked up in a recent national inspection," Larz Blomqvist, chairman of the teacher's union in the municipality, told The Local.

 

"It's been hard to provide quiet and proper teaching...there's been bad behaviour and a sort of lack of control."

 He disputed suggestions that the attack could have been a result of racial tensions in the area.

 

"No, no, I doubt it. I don't have the full information but that sounds very unlikely."

   Ribana Boskovic, 20 years old, lives two minutes from the school, which she said her sister attended and enjoyed. She told The Local on Thursday morning that she could see ten police cars from her window.

 

"There are a lot of people outside the school. A lot of people are crying because they’re so worried. It’s very chaotic; parents are running around to find their children," she said.

 

"My mum is feeling really bad at the moment, even though my sister is safe I’m very stressed and worried. I can’t understand why it happened here."

 

Local authorities have sent a crisis group the scene to look after students and staff.

“The group is composed of seven municipal employees, whose job it is to provide comfort and support during the emergency situation,” said Per Ivarsson, internal communications manager at Trollhättan’s local council.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven spoke to reporters before he headed to the town to meet some of those affected.

"This is a dark day for Sweden. I am thinking of the victims and their families, pupils and staff, and the whole affected community. Words cannot describe what they are going through right at the moment. We feel for them, and we will make sure that they get all the support they need," he said in a statement issued by his office."

School attacks are rare in normally-tranquil Sweden. A 1961 school shooting in Kungälv, in south-western Sweden, left one person dead and six others injured.

No other mass shootings have occurred since then, though at least one attack has been foiled, in the southern city of Malmö in 2004. Other threats have been issued but not followed through.

Birgitta Lindström Sundefors, head of Trollhätten council's education department said that the attacked school would remain closed on Friday.

The Local Sweden