A man wearing a Darth Vader-like mask and armed with a sword went on a rampage at a Swedish elementary school Thursday, killing a teacher and a student. The attacker died later of gunshot wounds inflicted by police who rushed to the scene, authorities said.
The teacher died at the school and the student later succumbed at a nearby hospital, according to officials. Police spokesman Thord Haraldsson said the 21-year-old attacker was fatally shot in the chest by police who responded to the attack at the Kronan school in Trollhattan, near Goteborg, Sweden’s second-largest city. Trollhattan is about 260 miles west-southwest of Stockholm.
“This is a black day for Sweden,” said Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who rushed to Trollhattan, a town of around 50,000 people. “I think of the victims and their families, students and staff, and the whole of the affected community. No words can describe what they are going through right now.”
Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf said the Scandinavian country “is in shock” following the stabbings. In a statement, the king said the royal family had received the news “with great dismay and sadness.”
The incident erupted mid-morning in a cafe section of the school, which serves around 500 students ranging from pre-school to high school. The attacker appeared in the hallway dressed in black and wearing a Darth Vader-like mask from Star Wars.
Haraldsson told a news conference that the masked attacker knocked on the doors of two classrooms and stabbed people who opened them. Laith Alazze, a 14-year-old student, told Sweden’s TV4 that at first he thought the masked man had something to do with Halloween.
The newspaper Dagens Nyheter published a photo showing two students posing with the perpetrator moments before the attack. “One of my friends walked over to him to challenge him, but when we saw he stabbed him (the teacher), we ran away,” Alazze said.
At least four were injured, including an 11-year-old and 15-year-old, Niklas Claesson, head of communications at the NU Hospital Group, told the Expressen newspaper.
Thomas Fuxborg, police spokesman in Gotaland, said the attacker wore a black mask and was armed with a sword and other knife-like weapons. He said the attacker “moved around inside the classrooms at the school,” Expressen reported.
Haraldsson said the assailant was not known to authorities, but police later searched his home and found things “that are interesting for the investigation.”
Swedish news agency TT reported there was “considerable confusion” about the sequence of events, but that the attack took place in a cafe located on the grounds of the school around 10 a.m. local time.
Swedish media said the school held a meeting earlier Thursday to discuss teachers’ concerns that the grounds were too open, with a cafe for adults that meant the school could not control who entered, the Associated Press reported. The Dagens Nyheternewspaper said students must go through the cafe to reach the school’s own cafeteria and other parts of the building.
Meanwhile, in the town of Hortlax, about 500 miles north of Stockholm, police cordoned off a local school Thursday afternoon after a man was seen cycling nearby while swinging an ax, Aftonbladet reported.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/10/22/man-attacks-sweden-school/74375106/
“The attacker appeared in the hallway dressed in black and wearing a Darth Vader-like mask from Star Wars.”
An Obummer mask would have been far more appropriate.
“… but police later searched his home and found things “that are interesting for the investigation.”
A Talmud, perhaps?
you know ive been reading here for a bit when the first thought in my head after reading a headline is :
was it joo?
Most ‘roads’ do lead to Israhell.
Or the masters thereof.
We must ban all “Star Wars” memorabilia. Thank God for that!
why shoot the legs to immobilize if you can shoot to kill.
Unfortunately, Swedish news sources will not give us information about the perp if it includes his race or religion. Was he a recent refugee from the Middle East or Africa?
Oh joy! Now we can ban Star Wars masks from the opening night of Star Wars in December. Yes, let’s take the fun out of EVERYTHING, all in the name of “SAFETY AND SECURITY”.
I can see copycat false flags will probably be put in place in another month for such an event. It’s too big of an event for them to pass up. Aurora Theater: Part II just so they can get their metal detectors put in place at theaters. Especially since about 8 Cinemark theaters around the country will be having a Star Wars Marathon from 3am the previous day all the way to 12am the next night when the new one finally premieres. One of them being Cinemark West Plano in Plano, TX. How can the elite ever miss a chance for that, right?