Sword Attack in Sweden: When Horror Suddenly Becomes Palpable
Following the sword attack at a Swedish school last Friday, the provincial town of Fagersta is left in shock. A girl was killed and two students were seriously injured. How can such an act be processed?
What happens to a small community when pure horror suddenly becomes tangible? This is the question that Fagersta, a small provincial town in central Sweden, must now grapple with. Last Friday, a young man attacked students with a sword at a school there. A 17-year-old girl was killed and two students were seriously injured.
Pastor Lars Frisk's church is meant to offer people a place to grieve. Frisk himself cannot comprehend what has happened. "It all feels so surreal. It's as if something very heavy is pressing down on your body, literally pushing you down. I can't describe it any more precisely than that." Families and individual students keep coming by throughout the day.
Flowers, Candles and Stuffed Animals Mark the Scene
Just a few hundred meters from the church lies the Brinellskolan. A plain school building with a white façade. Since Friday, it has been cordoned off with barrier tape. About 100 candles stand on a dried-out patch of grass, along with flowers, stuffed animals and small notes. A young woman who knew the killed student says: "I graduated last year. I was friends with her. I have no words. It's so horrifying."
She struggles to find words to explain how an 18-year-old could attack his former classmates with a sword. And now a life has been extinguished. "She was so kind. Always had a smile on her face. She never wished anyone harm. She had a boyfriend, she was happy."
Hours Without Information
Another young woman recounts how she barricaded herself in a neighboring school for three hours. She did not know what was happening because she had no mobile phone with her, she says. "It was terrible. We didn't know if he could come to us too. We couldn't contact our parents. It was awful."
The issue of mobile phones comes up repeatedly throughout the day. Among those raising it is Mona Eriksson, whose grandchild attended Brinellskolan. "It was chaotic. We didn't know what was happening to our grandchild. Whether he was injured or not. The children had no mobile phones. Under the new law, they have to hand them in. They were locked inside. Nobody could be reached."
Fortunately, her grandchild was unharmed. "He helped an injured person get out of the school. His entire T-shirt was smeared with blood. He literally ran for his life."
Widespread Speculation
Since the attack, many people in Fagersta have been asking how something like this could happen. Mona has her own theory: the perpetrator was probably not entirely well himself. The 18-year-old is reported to have had a difficult childhood, according to Swedish media. Child protective services reportedly removed him from his family for a period. The suspected attacker had apparently been violent before and had even been convicted and sentenced for assaulting a fellow student.
But: Currently, many different rumors are circulating. A boy reports: "I heard he was supposedly bullied himself. I saw that on his TikTok account. He posted about it there several times."
Despite all the rumors and speculation, Fagersta stands together. Almost as a symbol of this, Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and opposition leader Magdalena Andersson also came to the provincial town from nearly 200 kilometers away in Stockholm. In the middle of an election campaign, they want to send a message together.
On truly important matters, Sweden stands together. We mourn together and support one another.
School remains closed for now
At a press conference, police announced their intention to interview a total of more than 450 witnesses. The school in Fagersta will likely remain closed for several days.
"This also brings people together to fight evil collectively," says Pastor Frisk. His small church will be at the center of the entire country in the coming week. A memorial service is set to take place in the old town center of Fagersta — broadcast live across the country. And after that, people will somehow have to find their way back to everyday life, says the pastor, as he waits in front of his church for more mourners.
