Sword attack at Swedish school kills one, injures two, probes online links
Police in Sweden are investigating whether an 18-year-old man who killed a 17-year-old girl and injured two teenage boys with a sword at a Fagersta high school had ties to online communities that promote school violence.
Source: South China Morning Post · August 22, 2026 at 4:01 PM · AI-assisted report
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KUALA LUMPUR, 23 AUGUST 2026 —
Police in Sweden are investigating whether an 18-year-old man who killed a 17-year-old girl and injured two teenage boys with a sword at a Fagersta high school had ties to online communities that promote school violence.
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Investigators are examining a TikTok account that posted a picture of a sword 20 minutes before the attack, a police source told reporters. According to Dagens Nyheter, the image appeared to have been taken in a school restroom. The account, created a month ago, contained videos referencing two prior episodes of mass violence in Sweden and Norwegian far-right killer Anders Behring Breivik.
One video cited the 2015 Trollhättan school attack in which a masked swordsman killed a teaching assistant and two boys before being shot dead by police.
The attack on Friday prompted political leaders to pause campaigning ahead of Sweden’s September 13 election. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and opposition leader Magdalena Andersson visited Fagersta to offer condolences to the bereaved family and meet the injured.
“What should never happen has happened again,” Kristersson told reporters. “Our thoughts go first and foremost to the families who have been incredibly hard hit by this.”
Sweden’s worst mass shooting occurred in February 2025 at a school in Örebro, when a gunman killed 10 people before taking his own life.
Police initially said the suspect had been shot during his arrest on Friday. A spokesperson clarified on Saturday that service weapons were used but the perpetrator was not injured and required no medical attention. Prosecutors ordered his detention on suspicion of murder and several counts of attempted murder.
“The investigation is at an intense stage,” prosecutor Ann-Sofie Trossing told reporters. “We are conducting interrogations and gathering information, but I cannot go into specifics.”