17-year-old girl killed in sword attack at Swedish school
A teenager wielding a sword attacked students at a school in Fagersta, Sweden on Friday, killing a 17-year-old girl and injuring three others. An 18-year-old suspect has been arrested.
A 17-year-old girl was killed on Friday afternoon when a sword-wielding attacker struck during classes at Brinell high school in the central Swedish town of Fagersta. The girl's parents confirmed her death to local newspaper Fagersta-Posten.
Three other people were wounded in the attack, including two boys aged 12 and 17 who suffered minor injuries; a third minor was also treated and has since been discharged from hospital. An 18-year-old man has been arrested and is suspected of murder and several counts of attempted murder.
Possible online links
Investigators are examining whether the suspect had ties to online communities that promote violence in schools. Police are trying to determine whether a TikTok account that posted an image of a sword about 20 minutes before the attack belonged to the attacker. The photo appears to have been taken in a school restroom. Before being taken down, the month-old account had featured videos referencing earlier acts of mass violence in Sweden as well as Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik. One video referred to a 2015 attack in Trollhättan, where a masked, sword-wielding assailant killed a teaching assistant and two boys before being shot dead by police.
On Saturday, police corrected an earlier statement, clarifying that the suspect had not been shot during the arrest. Officers had used their service weapons, but the man was not injured and did not require medical treatment.
Political response
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and opposition leader Magdalena Andersson travelled to Fagersta to console the bereaved family and visit those injured. Kristersson said something that should never happen had happened again. Several party leaders called off planned campaign speeches on Saturday, pausing their efforts ahead of Sweden's general election on 13 September.
Sweden's deadliest school-related attack took place in February 2025 in the city of Örebro, where a gunman killed 10 people before taking his own life.
