2 killed in stabbing attack at school

Associated Press

COPENHAGEN, Denmark

A sword-wielding masked man who students thought was playing a Halloween prank stabbed four people at a school with a large immigrant community in southern Sweden on Thursday, killing a teacher and a student before being shot dead by police.

The 21-year-old assailant, who posed with students before beginning his deadly rampage, roamed the halls of the Kronan school in the industrial town of Trollhattan, knocking on the doors of two classrooms and slashing those who opened them, authorities said.

The identity of the assailant was not released, though a police investigator, Thord Haraldsson, told reporters that a racist motive was “part of the picture.” He did not elaborate.

The attack stunned Sweden, where violent crime is relatively rare, though there has been a recent spate of arson attacks on asylum centers in the south of the country as the influx of migrants has surged. Immigration officials estimate that some 190,000 will arrive this year, second only to Germany in western Europe.

“This is a black day for Sweden,” Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said of the attack, the deadliest ever to target a school in Sweden. “It is a tragedy that hits the entire country.”