Crime & Public Safety
Swedish school sword attack wounds several people
Several people were wounded Friday when an assailant armed with a sword entered Brinellskolan, a high school in central Sweden, Fagersta municipality said.
The municipality said the attacker had been detained by police. It did not give the number of wounded or their conditions.
Police were searching the school, and other schools in the area had been locked down, the municipality said.
Aftonbladet newspaper reported that a person wielding a machete had been shot in the leg by police. Public broadcaster SVT reported that ambulances, police cars and a police helicopter were outside the school in Fagersta, a city of about 12,000 people.
Sweden has seen previous high-profile attacks at educational institutions, including a February 2025 mass shooting at an adult education centre in Orebro and fatal school stabbings in Malmo in 2022 and Trollhattan in 2015.
Update
Police were searching Brinellskolan after the attack, according to Fagersta municipality.
Other schools in the area were locked down, the municipality said.
Aftonbladet reported that a person wielding a machete had been shot in the leg by police.
SVT reported ambulances, police cars and a police helicopter outside the school.
Source note: AFP news report published on 21 August 2026 at 13:30:33 UTC.
Update
The attack took place at Brinellskolan in Fagersta municipality in central Sweden.
Fagersta municipality said the assailant had been detained by police.
Aftonbladet reported that a person wielding a machete had been shot by police.
Source note: AFP news report published on 21 August 2026 at 13:16:29 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The number of wounded and their conditions were not specified in the supplied information.
The report that a machete-wielding person was shot by police was attributed to Aftonbladet and was not stated as confirmed by authorities.
Source
AFP news report published on .