Several injured after sword attack at Swedish school

Several people have been injured after a sword attack at a high school in Sweden, local authorities say.

Police said they had arrested one man after the incident at Brinell School in Fagersta, central Sweden.

Officers were called to the scene just after 14:00 local time (13:00 BST) on Friday, with some reports in Swedish media saying the suspect was shot in the leg by police.

Fagersta council did not specify the number of wounded, but said police were searching the building and that eight other schools had been placed under lockdown measures.

Police have said there is currently no danger to the public.

The Vastmanland region, where Fagersta is located, has declared a state of high alert following the attack.

In a post on X, Sweden's Prime Minsiter Ulf Kristersson described the attack as a "serious incident," and said "we do not know what lies behind the act, but we know that police are working very intensively".

Students at Brinell School had only just returned to the classroom following the summer break, with the new term beginning either on Monday or Wednesday this week, depending on the academic year.

The school has just under 500 students on its roster, according to Sweden's public broadcaster SVT, and is located 170km (105 miles) north-west of the capital, Stockholm.

Sweden has experienced a number of attacks on educational institutions in recent years.

The country experienced it's worst-ever mass shooting in 2025, where 11 people, including the gunman, died at an adult education centre in Orebro.

This led to the government tightening the country's gun laws after it was found that the suspect legally owned four rifles, three of which were found in the school where attack took place.

Two teachers were killed in a violent attack on a secondary school in Malmo in 2022 - an 18-year-old student later confessed to the attack.

In 2015, a teacher and a pupil were killed in a sword attack at a school in Trollhattan.