HELSINKI, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- One person was killed, and three others were injured in a sword attack at a school in central Sweden on Friday, police and local officials said at a joint press conference.
Police found the dead person after entering the school to secure the premises. The other injured people had already left the building on their own, police said.
The three injured included two boys under 18 who were in serious but stable condition and another person who sustained minor injuries, according to Region Vastmanland, the regional health authority.
The attack took place at Brinellskolan, an upper secondary school in Fagersta, a municipality in central Sweden. Police received an alert at 2:06 p.m. local time about an incident classified as "ongoing deadly violence."
About 10 minutes later, police fired shots as they stopped and arrested the attacker. The suspect is a man aged about 18. Police said there was no indication that more than one attacker was involved.
According to Swedish Television, the 18-year-old suspect is a former student of Brinellskolan. He had previously been convicted of assaulting another student and had received compulsory care under Swedish legislation governing the care of young people.
Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported that an image showing a sword in a restroom at the school had been posted on social media platform TikTok shortly before the attack. Authorities have not publicly confirmed whether the account belonged to the suspect or whether the post was directly linked to the attack.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson described the incident as serious and said authorities did not yet know what was behind the attack. He later canceled a planned speech to focus on the incident.
