UPDATED: A teacher has died and four have been injured after a knife attack at a school in Trollhättan, western Sweden. A student has told The Local he feared he would be "murdered".

Teacher dead and four injured in school attack
Two boys, 11 and 15, among those being treated for serious stab wounds
Attacker seriously injured
Student tells The Local his teacher was stabbed
"If I had not run, I would have been murdered," student tells The Local
PM Stefan Löfven: 'A dark day for Sweden
The attack took place on Thursday morning at the school, around 75km from Gothenburg after a man wearing a mask walked into the school building.

Police spokesman Stefan Gustafsson told Swedish media that the attacker was in his twenties and used “several knife-like objects.”

A hospital in Trollhättan has confirmed that a teacher died in the incident. Two boys, 11 and 15, and a male teacher are being treated for serious stab wounds at Trollhättan hospital. The attacker is also injured.

"The suspect has been shot and is being treated at NÄL (the regional hospital). He is seriously injured and is being operated on," said hospital spokesperson Niklas Claesson.


The scene outside the school shortly after the attacks. Photo: Mikael Svantesson.

A teenage student at the school told The Local of the moment he realised what was happening:
“I was in a classroom with my class when one of my classmates’ sisters called her to warn her that there was a murderer at the school. So we locked the door to the classroom, but our teacher was still outside in the corridor.”

“We wanted to warn him, so a few of us went outside and then I saw the murderer, he was wearing a mask and had a sword. Our teacher got stabbed.

“The murderer started chasing me, I ran into another classroom. If I had not run, I would have been murdered. I’m feeling really scared. Everyone’s scared here.”

Stefan Benhage, a photographer for local newspaper TTELA told his publication that there is "complete chaos" at the school and described pupils sobbing at the scene.

A large number of police cars and ambulances are in the area. One ambulance crashed into the school wall as it arrived at the scene.


An ambulance crashed into the school wall as it arrived at the scene. Photo: Mikael Svantesson.

Around 400 pupils are understood to be taught at the school, aged between six and fifteen.

Trollhättan is an industrial town in west Sweden, located around 75km north of Gothenburg, the nation's second largest city.




Ribana Boskovic, 20 years old, lives two minutes from the school, which her sister attends. She told The Local she could see ten police cars outside the school:

"There are a lot of people outside the school. A lot of people are crying because they’re so worried. It’s very chaotic; parents are running around to find their children."

She said her sister enjoyed studying at the school:

"My mum is feeling really bad at the moment, even though my sister is safe I’m very stressed and worried. I can’t understand why it happened here."

Local authorities have sent a crisis group the scene to look after students and staff:
“The group is composed of seven municipal employees, whose job it is to provide comfort and support during the emergency situation,” Per Ivarsson, internal communications manager at Trollhättan’s local council.

Prime minister: A dark day for Sweden

Prime minister Stefan Löfven will visit Trollhättan on Thursday afternoon to meet those affected.

"This is a dark day for Sweden. I am thinking of the victims and their families, pupils and staff, and the whole affected community. Words cannot describe what they are going through right at the moment. We feel for them, and we will make sure that they get all the support they need," he said in a statement issued by his office on Thursday afternoon.

– Det här är en svart dag för Sverige. Jag tänker på offren och deras familjer, elever och personal, och hela det drabbade samhället. Inga ord kan beskriva vad de går igenom just nu. Vi känner med dem, och vi ska se till att de får allt stöd de behöver, säger statsminister Stefan Löfven.

 Frazzled wrote:
Lets try to keep the politics out of it ok?

 Ouze wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:
Lets try to keep the politics out of it ok?

My bet; 3/4th of the first page, locked by the third.

 Frazzled wrote:
Who took him out? The article says he was shot.

 Ashiraya wrote:
Yeah. Good on the boys in blue.

 AlmightyWalrus wrote:
Have to say though, the article scared the living daylights out of me at first, as I study in Trollhättan (not at an elemantary school, obviously).

 Ashiraya wrote:
This is clearly not the work of a sane person. I wonder if he is capable of regret and guilt.

yellowfever wrote:
Good job to dakkadakka for keeping thus on topic for almost a whole page. Ashiraya tried but that was ignored. I'm impressed.
Goodluck to the families.

 Frazzled wrote:
Sad. A prayer for the victims and their families.

Lets try to keep the politics out of it ok?