Sweden School Attack is Racist Motive

Police investigating a stabbing at a school in Sweden involving a sword-wielding masked man say a racist motive is "part of the picture", amid reports the suspect had expressed far-right sympathies online. It comes as the 21-year-old assailant was named by Swedish media as Anton Lundin-Pettersson.

The attacker, who was dressed in a black trench coat, mask and helmet, posed with students who thought he was playing a Halloween prank at a school in the industrial town of Trollhatan.

He then began his deadly attack, roaming the halls of the Kronan school, knocking on the doors of two classrooms and stabbing those who opened them.

A teacher and a student were killed, before the suspect was shot dead by police. "We thought it was a joke, some sort of a Halloween prank but it wasn't," 14-year-old Edona said.

She said she realised what was happening when other pupils around her started to cry and panic.

A pupil, who did not wish to reveal her name, told Sweden's Aftonbladet newspaper the attacker had been playing strange Halloween music and did not speak.

Another told Sweden's English-speaking news site The Local he was forced to run from the suspect after his teacher was stabbed in front of him. "The murderer started chasing me, I ran into another classroom," he said.

"If I had not run, I would have been murdered. I'm feeling really scared. Everyone's scared here."

The attacker was carrying more than one weapon, including "at least one knife-like object", police said. They followed a "trail of blood" around the school building to find the attacker, who was shot twice in the chest by officers. He later died in hospital.

An initial search of the suspect's home in Trollhattan has uncovered items "that are interesting for the investigation", spokesman Thord Haraldsson said. He did not elaborate on what those items may be. It is not yet known whether the attacker had any ties to the school.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who immediately travelled to the scene, said it was a "black day" for Sweden. Speaking outside the school, Mr Lofven said it "is a tragedy that hits the entire country".

In a statement, King Carl XVI Gustaf said Sweden was "in shock" and that the royal family received the news "with great dismay and sadness."

Some 400 pupils, ranging from pre-school to high school, attend the Kronan school.