A sword-wielding masked-man killed one student, one teacher, and injured two others Thursday morning at a high school in Trollhattan, Sweden. The man donning a Darth Vader mask was fatally shot by police, officials reported.
Police were alerted to an attack near the café area of the Kronan school around 10:10 a.m. local time on Thursday. Upon arrival, authorities found a slain teacher. Two other male students and another teacher were taken to the hospital. One of the male students has since died from his injuries. As BBC cites, the hospital initially released the ages of the male students as 11 and 15, but have since clarified they are actually 17 and 15 years of age.
Before the masked man went on a killing spree, he quite cryptically posed for pictures with students - wearing all black, holding a sword.
In a Swedish report, translated via BBC, a girl referred to as Sara, described a first-hand account of the horrific scene.
"The girl left her classroom and met two school friends who stood with a masked man holding a bloody knife, she said. He was playing 'horrible, Halloween-type' music and did not speak, she said.
Her friends thought it was a joke and wanted to be photographed with the man, so Sara took a photo, Aftonbladet reports.
A teacher came out and asked the man what he was doing, the girl said.
'You're scaring the children, you can go,' the teacher said.
The man just nodded then stabbed the teacher in the side with his knife, Sara said.
She and her friends ran. The man chased them but they managed to escape."
At this time, BBC reports the suspect was a 21-year old resident of Trollhattan. Police have identified the suspect, but have not released his name. The authorities have since searched the suspect's home, uncovering "interesting" things according to police spokesman Thord Haraldsson.
Local media reports his Facebook and YouTube accounts allude to an interest in "Hitler and Nazi Germany. In a photo given to media by a student at the school, he appears to be wearing a black trench coat and a helmet resembling those worn by German troops in World War Two."
The prime minister and King of Sweden have since expressed their grief over the situation - King Carl Gustav reporting he learned of the incident "with great dismay and sorrow, while Prime Minister Stefan Lofven called it a "black day for Sweden."
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
