2 killed as masked man attacks school in Sweden
A masked man brandishing a sword broke into a school in Sweden on Thursday, killing two people and seriously wounding two others before being shot by police.
The attack took place in the southwestern town of Trollhattan at a school for children aged between six and 15, shocking a nation where such violence is rare.
One teacher was found dead at the school, while a second victim died in hospital several hours later.
Pictures taken by students and circulating in the media showed the assailant wearing black clothes and a Darth Vader-like mask, with school children initially thinking it was a prank or a Halloween costume. Media reports identified the attacker as Anton Lundin Pettersson, describing him as a quiet 21-year-old opposed to Islam and immigration.
“He was a loner. He played video games, lived in his own world,” a former classmate told daily Expressen. The attacker, who went from classroom to classroom at the school for six to 15-year-olds, including many newly-arrived immigrants, in the southwestern town of Trollhattan.
The attack shocked a nation where such violence is rare.
