Sword attack at Swedish school kills 17-year-old girl, injures three boys

An 18-year-old kills a girl and seriously injures three boys. There are indications of the perpetrator's radicalization on social media.

Published: August 22, 2026, 16:27

The police needed only ten minutes after the emergency call to stop the attacker. The 18-year-old, armed with a sword, had already killed one person and injured three. The attack at a school in Fagersta sent a new shock through Sweden on Friday, only a year and a half after the school massacre in Örebro, where a young man shot ten people.

In Fagersta, the attacker killed a 17-year-old girl, as was announced on Saturday morning. Three boys aged twelve to 17 were injured, two of them seriously, as has been known since Friday evening.

The police have so far only commented briefly on the suspect and possible motive, as investigations are ongoing. On Saturday, the municipality confirmed according to Dagens Nyheter that the 18-year-old was still registered as a student at the affected school, Brinellskolan.

Swedish media unanimously report a known pattern: A young man, described as an outsider, radicalizes unnoticed online until his growing hatred kills in reality.

TikTok Account Indicates Far-Right Leanings

A TikTok account linked to the 18-year-old is particularly in focus. The last post shows a sword, recorded in the school toilet shortly before the act.

The now-suspended account is also said to have contained posts glorifying far-right attackers such as Anders Behring Breivik and Anton Lundin Pettersson. Pettersson killed three people with a sword in Trollhättan in 2015 for racist motives. Rickard Andersson, the tenfold murderer from Örebro, was also venerated there. According to Aftonbladet, the suspect wore black clothing, a helmet, and a mask during the act – like the perpetrator from Trollhättan.

Used hashtags on the TikTok account indicated a connection to the "True crime community (TCC)", which celebrates such acts on social media. The newspaper Dagens ETC reports on references to the female murderer Ted Bundy and the acronym TFD "Total female death". "One looks into an abyss without light," the newspaper writes.

Swedish Prime Minister Traveled to Fagersta

Dagens Nyheter reports, citing file inspection, that the 18-year-old was convicted of assault last year. He was known to social services, among other things for domestic violence issues. The police overpowered and arrested him on Friday after a warning shot, according to their own statements.

The day after, in the final sprint of the election campaign, several ministers as well as Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (Moderate Party) and opposition leader Magdalena Andersson (Social Democrats) traveled to Fagersta. Photos show them lighting candles at the memorial site. Andersson emphasized that in the face of such an act, the nation stands united in mourning.

The 18-year-old attacker may have found far-right role models on TikTok and imitated their acts. Photo: Magnus Lejhall / TT News Agency

Reporting from Härnösand by Anne Diekhoff