A violent sword attack at Brinellskolan high school in Fagersta, central Sweden, has left at least two teenage boys seriously injured, sending shockwaves through the small community just days after students returned from summer break. Regional healthcare officials confirmed the two wounded teenagers, aged between 12 and 17, were admitted to hospital for emergency care; one underwent urgent surgery, though both have since been stabilized. A third person with unspecified injuries is also being transported for medical treatment, local authorities confirmed.
Local police first received emergency calls reporting the attack shortly after 2:00 pm local time (1200 GMT) on Friday. In an official statement, the Fagersta municipality confirmed that an unidentified sword-wielding assailant had entered the school grounds and wounded multiple people before being taken into police custody. Multiple Swedish media outlets, including leading newspaper Aftonbladet and public broadcaster SVT, have reported that the attacker, an 18-year-old former student at the school, was shot in the leg by police during the arrest operation. Citing anonymous sources, SVT added the perpetrator had a prior assault conviction and wore a protective helmet during the attack, a detail that echoes a fatal 2015 sword attack at a Trollhattan school that left three people dead in a racially motivated attack.
In the immediate aftermath of the incident, Brinellskolan and several nearby schools were placed under full lockdown, with students and staff locked in secure locations for more than three hours. The lockdown was eventually lifted, but authorities postponed a scheduled 5:00 pm press conference, noting that search and rescue operations were still ongoing at the school campus. Footage and images from the scene captured a large emergency response, with multiple ambulances, dozens of police vehicles, and a police helicopter deployed to the small town of 12,000 residents, which is home to Brinellskolan’s 450-student body. Dozens of anxious parents gathered outside the school gates waiting for updates on their children, with one parent, Agnes, telling Swedish news agency TT that being close to the campus helped ease some of her fear after her daughter called to report she was sheltering in the school library. This is not the first security incident at the school: in May this year, the entire student body was sent home after an unconfirmed threat was made against the campus.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson released an official written statement to AFP confirming the severity of the incident, noting that it occurred just as students resumed classes following the summer holiday. “We do not yet know what lies behind the attack, but we do know that the police are working extremely intensively,” Kristersson said, adding that he had canceled a scheduled policy speech in Stockholm to focus on coordinating the government’s response to the attack. Magdalena Andersson, leader of the opposition Social Democrats, called the attack “terrible news” in a post on X, writing, “When violence takes place at a school, I know it impacts everyone in our country. All of Sweden stands with Fagersta in this difficult time.”
The attack marks the latest in a string of high-profile violent incidents at Swedish educational institutions over the past decade. In February 2025, a 35-year-old man opened fire at an adult education center in Orebro, killing 10 people in what remains Sweden’s deadliest mass shooting; police later confirmed the attacker was motivated by personal financial and psychological distress. In March 2022, an 18-year-old student fatally stabbed two teachers at a secondary school in the southern city of Malmo. The 2015 Trollhattan attack, which matches the modus operandi of Friday’s incident, left three people dead at the hands of a sword-wielding attacker who was killed by police at the scene. As of Friday evening, authorities have not released a confirmed motive for the Fagersta attack.