A teenage girl is now confirmed to have died after a sword attack at a Swedish high school, the alleged perpetrator of which having been rendered into pretrial detention by the regional court.
18-year-old Liam Nebel, a Swedish Swede has been officially detained by Västmanland District Court on Sunday on suspicion of murder and attempted murder after a sword attack at Brinell high school in Fagersta, Västmanland County Sweden on Friday. Authorities have now confirmed that there was one fatality in the attack, a 17-year-old girl. Three teenage boys were also injured, two seriously.
Police believe the slain girl was not a targeted victim but was rather killed at random, reports German newspaper Die Welt.
Suspect Nebel’s defence lawyer said that while their client had not confessed to police, he had nevertheless not contested the murder charge. He did, however, contest the additional charges of attempted murder. The teen, who is understood to have a difficult upbringing and who was placed into a foster home last year over “extensive” failings of the home environment was a current pupil at Brinell high school and consequently was able to access the site on the day of the attack with his student card.
Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reports police are considering a “far-right” motivation in the attack and state that Nebel was in costume as school killer Anton Lundin Pettersson, who wore a distinctive “Darth Vader”-like costume of long black coat, full face mask, and German-pattern helmet when he killed four people in 2015.
It appears a prompt police response to the attack may have saved lives. Officers had already opened fire and arrested the suspect within ten minutes of the initial call to the emergency services reporting a rampage at the school being placed by a witness.
A social media account linked to the suspect has been widely reported, albeit without official confirmation by police, in Swedish media. It is stated a post was uploaded to TikTok just before the attack began, which showed a large sword lying on top of a guitar case in the school toilets, with the caption “no more edits”. As reported on Friday, the same school was evacuated in May over a threat but it is unclear whether the incidents are linked.
The Swedish Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition visited the site of the attack to lay flowers on Saturday. The local church is open all day on Sunday for mourners and the government has established a crisis support centre.