One person has been arrested following the attack at a high school in Fagersta, local authorities said. Published August 21, 2026 August 21, 2026 A person armed with a sword injured several people in an attack at a school in central Sweden, authorities said. “An attacker armed with a sword has entered Brinellskolan [school] and injured several people,” the municipality of Fagersta said in a statement on Friday, adding that the suspect had been detained by police. Spokesman Pelle Vamstad, quoted by the TT news agency, said an alarm was received early on Friday afternoon and police rushed to the scene. Public broadcaster SVT said ambulances, police cars and a police helicopter were outside the school in the small town of about 12,000 people. Vamstad said authorities would be looking for camera footage that could be used in the preliminary investigation. “The public is urged to respect roadblocks and listen to police instructions.” The municipality of Fagersta did not specify the number of injuries, but said police were searching the school and that other schools in the area had been closed. Aftonbladet newspaper reported that police had shot a person wielding a machete in the leg. attack. “We still do not know what is behind the act, but we know that the police are working very intensively.” Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer said the government was closely monitoring the situation. “The police are on the scene and working very intensively on the incident. The government is in close contact with the police and is monitoring developments on an ongoing basis,” he said. Sweden has seen some high-profile attacks on educational institutions. In February 2025, a 35-year-old man killed 10 people at an adult education center in Orebro, the worst mass shooting in Sweden. Police said it was motivated by the killer’s desire to end his life due to financial and psychological problems. In March 2022, an 18-year-old student years old stabbed two teachers to death at a secondary school in the southern city of Malmo. And in October 2015, three people were killed in a racially motivated attack at a school in the western city of Trollhattan by a sword-wielding assailant who was killed by police.
