Two women have died following a violent attack at a school in southern Sweden’s Malmo on Monday.
Around 5pm (4pm GMT) on Monday, a man entered the school with an axe and a knife, according to local media reports. About 50 students were present at the Malmo Latin School at the time.
The two women, both in their 50s and employees of the school, are believed to have been injured in the attack. They succumbed to their injuries late on Monday night.
Malmo police chief Petra Stenkula said: “It is with great sadness that we can state that two people lost their lives in this terrible event and our thoughts go to their relatives and friends.”
The police have arrested an 18-year-old suspect in connection with the incident. Local media reports said that he called the emergency services himself to report that he had killed two people.
But authorities are still trying to find out what prompted the attack and how it unfolded.
The police have said they would take statements from all those present at the school at the time to piece together the attack.
“Now a great deal of work awaits to be able to understand what happened and the underlying motive for this terrible event,” said Malmo north police chief Åsa Nilsson.
A religious seminar and a lecture on criminology were underway at the time, students said, adding that this was why they were in school even after 5pm.
They added that they were kept in classrooms for several hours while the police conducted searches after the attack.
School principal Fredrik Hemmensjö told local newspaper Aftonbladet: “This is absolutely awful. I only know that there is deadly violence at school.”
He added that crisis management groups from the school as well as the local administration had been brought in to deal with the situation.
