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British police is investigating the possibility if the 21-year-old man who attacked and killed a teacher and a student at the Kronan school in Kronogarden in southwest Sweden on Thursday morning had far-right sympathies.
BBC reports that investigator Thord Haraldsson is looking at a racist motive of the attacker who even posed with students while dressed in a Halloween costume. After the photo opportunity, he went on a rampage in different classrooms which caused students to panic and leave the school building.
The unnamed attacker is said to be a resident of Trollhattan but has no criminal record, according to Maria Randsalu, a police spokeswoman. Based on his Facebook and YouTube accounts, he is into Hitler and Nazi Germany, but against Islam and immigration. Kronogarden, which is part of Trollhattan, has a big immigrant population. It is 45 miles south of Goteborg, the second-largest city in Sweden.
He killed a teacher and a 17-year-old male student using the sword as weapon and injured another 15-year-old male student and a 41-year-old teacher who are now confined in a hospital, in serious condition. The school, which has over 400 students from preschool through ninth grade, opened in 2009.
King Carl XVI Gustaf said the country is in a shock because Sweden rarely experiences violent crimes. Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said it is a dark day for the country, reports The New York Times.
According to Felipe Estrada, criminologist at Stockholm University, deadly or aggravated violence in Swedish school is so rare because schools are seen as safe places for kids.
On Thursday evening, people gathered outside the Kronan school and placed flowers and candles on the ground as their way of paying respect to the victims.
