Swedish sword attack victim was 17-year-old girl, police say
Police in Sweden have confirmed that the victim of a fatal sword attack at a high school in Fagersta, central Sweden, was a 17-year-old girl. The attack, which took place on Friday afternoon shortly after pupils returned from the summer break, has shocked the country and prompted visits from the prime minister and opposition leader to lay tributes at the scene. Authorities are treating the case as murder and attempted murder, with an 18-year-old man arrested in connection with the incident.
Two boys, aged 12 and 17, were seriously injured in the attack, while a third person suffered minor injuries. Police fired shots after arriving at the scene but have not said whether the suspect, reportedly a former student wearing a helmet, was struck before being detained. The region briefly declared a state of emergency, which had ended by Saturday, and investigators have carried out two house searches linked to the suspect. The school, home to almost 500 pupils, lies around 170km north-west of Stockholm; King Carl XVI Gustaf said he was "dismayed and saddened" by the attack.
- Victim of Swedish school sword attack named as 17-year-old girl
- Two boys, aged 12 and 17, seriously injured; 18-year-old arrested
- PM and opposition leader visit school; case treated as murder
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Sweden rarely sees violent attacks in schools, so an incident of this kind has caused widespread shock across the country. It happened at a high school in Fagersta, a town in central Sweden, on the first day back after the summer holidays, when the building would have been full of pupils and staff.
Police have confirmed the person who died was a 17-year-old girl, and say two boys, aged 12 and 17, were seriously hurt, with a third person slightly injured. An 18-year-old man, reported to be a former pupil at the school, has been arrested, and the case is being investigated as murder and attempted murder.
The attack has drawn a strong national response, including visits from Sweden's prime minister and opposition leader, and comments from King Carl XVI Gustaf. Because it involves a school, young victims and a rare use of extreme violence in a country with low rates of such crime, it has become a major story with wide public and political attention.