On 22 October 2015, 21-year-old Anton Lundin Pettersson attacked Kronan School in Trollhättan, Sweden, with a sword. He killed a teaching assistant and a male student, stabbed another male student and a teacher, and died later of the gunshot wounds he received during his apprehension.[1][2] The second teacher who was wounded died in the hospital six weeks after the attack, on 3 December.
Trollhättan school attack
Anton Lundin Pettersson, photographed in the corridors of the school
It was Sweden's first deadly attack on a school since the 1961 Kungälv school shooting when one person was killed and six injured. It is also the deadliest attack on a school in Swedish history.[2] The initial police investigation concluded that Pettersson was motivated by racism and had chosen the school as his target due to its location in a neighbourhood with a high immigrant population.[3]
The city of Trollhättan had experienced hate crimes in the past, including arson at a mosque in the 1990s. Anders Sundell has found it to be the most ethnically segregated city in Sweden.[3]
Although surveys by non-governmental organisations have frequently shown Sweden to be the European country which is most tolerant of immigration, its population is polarised on the issue. Sundell's research showed that consistently over the last 20 years, a plurality of Swedes have wanted to limit the number of refugees coming to the country, but "There is a large difference between what the politicians think and the general public, and the media have not questioned the politicians until recently." As a consequence, Swedish anti-immigrant forces believe that there is a conspiracy opposing their views.[3]
Attack
Pettersson entered the school in a German World War II helmet and a mask similar to Darth Vader's in Star Wars.[4] At first, eyewitnesses believed it was a Halloween prank.[5] Pettersson immediately attacked 20-year-old teaching assistant Lavin Eskandar. Eskandar, a Feyli Kurd from Iraq,[6][7][8][9] was stabbed and died at the scene. Pettersson then stabbed the abdomen of Ahmed Hassan, a 15-year-old born in Somalia.[3] Hassan died in the hospital. After that, while wandering the halls, Pettersson posed with two students who thought he was playing a prank, and took a picture of Pettersson with blood dripping from his sword. Shortly after, when 42-year-old teacher Nazir Amso asked Pettersson to remove his mask, Amso was stabbed. He died due to his injuries six weeks later at the hospital on 3 December. At 10.16 A.M., Pettersson was shot by police. He died in the hospital.[2]
On the morning of 23 October, Swedish police and media confirmed that the attack had "racist motives" and that it was a "hate crime".[10] Niclas Hallgren, the city's police chief, stated that all of the victims were "dark-skinned".[3] Head of investigation Thord Haraldsson said that CCTV footage showed that Pettersson spared the lives of students with white skin.[11][12]
Perpetrator
Anton Niclas Lundin Pettersson[13] (22 June 1994[13] – 22 October 2015) was identified as the attacker by Expressen.[14] According to Aftonbladet, the perpetrator had visited right-wing extremist groups at social media sites supporting Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany.[15] He had also joined a group on Facebook that wants to stop immigration to Sweden.[15] The Swedish Security Service were called in to investigate these findings.[15] Pettersson had no criminal record and was not a member of any political organisation, but had supported a petition by the Sweden Democrats to initiate a referendum on immigration.[3] He left a handwritten note at his home in which he declared that something had to be done about immigration, and that he did not expect to survive his spree.[citation needed]
Pettersson lived in an apartment in the neighbourhood of Stavre, but chose to attack the Kronan School in Kronogården, where there are more immigrants; police cited this as more evidence towards his motive.[3] Former classmates described the perpetrator as a lonely person who "lived in his own world" and always dressed in black clothes influenced either by the emo or rock scene.[15]
Prime Minister Stefan Löfven travelled to Trollhättan after news of the attack, calling it a "black day" for the country.[2] Interior Minister Anders Ygeman wrote on Twitter, "It is with sadness and dismay I received the news of the attack on the school in Trollhättan. My thoughts go to the victims and their families".[2] King Carl XVI Gustaf said that the royal family received the news "with great dismay and sadness".[17]
In the days following the attack, there were reports of people wearing suspicious outfits or brandishing weapons, which were discovered to be people celebrating Halloween. The police warned the public not to carry imitation weapons with their Halloween costumes, to avoid potentially dangerous misunderstandings.[18]
The school remained closed until 2 November, when it reopened with higher security. An Afghan father told The Local that he wished to leave the neighbourhood for his family's safety.[19]
On 29 September 2017, the first book about the school attack was published: Det som aldrig fick ske.[20] The book contains completely new facts, for example a secret suicide note that the police and the Pettersson family did not know existed. In the book the brother of Anton Lundin Pettersson speaks out for the first time.[21] The author, Åsa Erlandsson, won the Stora Journalistpriset (the finest prize in journalism in Sweden) for the book.[22]
^"Tre dödsoffer: Vuxen, elev och gärningsman" [Three deaths: adult, student and perpetrator]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 22 October 2015. from the original on 25 October 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
^ abcde"Sweden sword attack: Two dead after masked attacker strikes". BBC News. 22 October 2015. from the original on 22 October 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
^ abcdefgCrouch, David (23 October 2015). "Swedish police say school attack was racist, as refugee rules tightened". The Guardian. from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
^Vinograd, Cassandra (22 October 2015). "Sword Attack at Kronan School in Trollhattan Kills Teacher, Wounds 3". NBC News. from the original on 22 October 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
^"Kurdish teacher, student killed in stabbing attack on Swedish school". Ekurd.net. 23 December 2015. from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
^"Kurdish victim who tried to stop Sweden school shooting praised". Rudaw.net. 23 December 2015. from the original on 18 January 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
^Taylor, Adam (23 December 2015). "Swedish school worker killed trying to protect students in racial attack hailed as hero". The Washington Post. from the original on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
^"Så hyllar världen Lavin Eskandar för hans stora hjältemod på skolan". Newsner.com. 23 December 2015. from the original on 29 December 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
^"Han marscherade som en militär" [He marched like a soldier]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 23 October 2015. from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
^"Läraren död efter attacken i Trollhättan" [Läraren dead after attack in Trollhättan]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 4 December 2015. from the original on 6 December 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
^Wikström, Sanna; Salihu, Diamant; Berntsson, JonathanOlsson; Olsson, Daniel. "Tredje offret död efter skolattacken" [Third victim dead after school attack]. Expressen. from the original on 4 December 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
^ ab"Svenske medier: Anton Lundin Pettersson (21) drepte to personer med sverd" [Swedish media: Anton Lundin Pettersson (21) killed two people with sword] (in Norwegian). 22 October 2015. from the original on 27 May 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
^El-Mochantaf, Christer; Nilsson, Gustaf; Olsson, Daniel; Berntsson, Jonathan. "Anton Lundin Pettersson mördade två i skolan" [Anton Lundin Pettersson murdered two at school]. Expressen (in Swedish). from the original on 22 October 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
^ abcdTagesson, Eric; Granlund, John; Nordström, Isabelle; Svahn, Niklas. "Anton, 21, misstänks för morden på skolan" [Anton, 21, suspected of the murder in school]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). from the original on 23 October 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
^Ihler, Bjørn (23 October 2015). "The Trollhättan killer didn't become an extremist overnight. Somebody could have stopped him". The Guardian. from the original on 24 October 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
^Perry, Dave (22 October 2015). "UPDATE: Sweden's king: Country 'in shock' after attacks". Aurora Sentinel. from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
^"Swedish police: don't wear Halloween masks". The Local. 23 October 2015. from the original on 24 October 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
^"Trollhättan pupils return after fatal school attack". The Local. 2 November 2015. from the original on 3 November 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
^"Böcker". from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
^"Anton Lundin Petterssons bror berättar nu om tiden före dådet". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). from the original on 22 August 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
^"Det som aldrig fick ske – Stora Journalistpriset". storajournalistpriset.se (in Swedish). from the original on 22 August 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
^"Hyllade Anders Breivik och Anton Lundin Pettersson (Acclaimed Anders Breivik and Anton Lundin Pettersson)". Expressen (in Swedish). 15 March 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
March 14, 2023
trollhättan, school, attack, october, 2015, year, anton, lundin, pettersson, attacked, kronan, school, trollhättan, sweden, with, sword, killed, teaching, assistant, male, student, stabbed, another, male, student, teacher, died, later, gunshot, wounds, receive. On 22 October 2015 21 year old Anton Lundin Pettersson attacked Kronan School in Trollhattan Sweden with a sword He killed a teaching assistant and a male student stabbed another male student and a teacher and died later of the gunshot wounds he received during his apprehension 1 2 The second teacher who was wounded died in the hospital six weeks after the attack on 3 December Trollhattan school attackAnton Lundin Pettersson photographed in the corridors of the schoolTrollhattanTrollhattan Vastra Gotaland Show map of Vastra GotalandTrollhattanTrollhattan Sweden Show map of SwedenLocationKronan School Trollhattan SwedenCoordinates58 16 9 N 12 18 20 E 58 26917 N 12 30556 E 58 26917 12 30556Date22 October 2015 2015 10 22 10 06TargetTeachers and students with Middle East or African backgroundAttack typeMurder mass stabbingWeaponSwordDeaths4 including the perpetrator Injured1PerpetratorAnton Lundin PetterssonMotiveRacismIt was Sweden s first deadly attack on a school since the 1961 Kungalv school shooting when one person was killed and six injured It is also the deadliest attack on a school in Swedish history 2 The initial police investigation concluded that Pettersson was motivated by racism and had chosen the school as his target due to its location in a neighbourhood with a high immigrant population 3 Contents 1 Background 2 Attack 3 Perpetrator 4 Aftermath and reactions 5 See also 6 ReferencesBackground EditThe city of Trollhattan had experienced hate crimes in the past including arson at a mosque in the 1990s Anders Sundell has found it to be the most ethnically segregated city in Sweden 3 Although surveys by non governmental organisations have frequently shown Sweden to be the European country which is most tolerant of immigration its population is polarised on the issue Sundell s research showed that consistently over the last 20 years a plurality of Swedes have wanted to limit the number of refugees coming to the country but There is a large difference between what the politicians think and the general public and the media have not questioned the politicians until recently As a consequence Swedish anti immigrant forces believe that there is a conspiracy opposing their views 3 Attack EditPettersson entered the school in a German World War II helmet and a mask similar to Darth Vader s in Star Wars 4 At first eyewitnesses believed it was a Halloween prank 5 Pettersson immediately attacked 20 year old teaching assistant Lavin Eskandar Eskandar a Feyli Kurd from Iraq 6 7 8 9 was stabbed and died at the scene Pettersson then stabbed the abdomen of Ahmed Hassan a 15 year old born in Somalia 3 Hassan died in the hospital After that while wandering the halls Pettersson posed with two students who thought he was playing a prank and took a picture of Pettersson with blood dripping from his sword Shortly after when 42 year old teacher Nazir Amso asked Pettersson to remove his mask Amso was stabbed He died due to his injuries six weeks later at the hospital on 3 December At 10 16 A M Pettersson was shot by police He died in the hospital 2 On the morning of 23 October Swedish police and media confirmed that the attack had racist motives and that it was a hate crime 10 Niclas Hallgren the city s police chief stated that all of the victims were dark skinned 3 Head of investigation Thord Haraldsson said that CCTV footage showed that Pettersson spared the lives of students with white skin 11 12 Perpetrator EditAnton Niclas Lundin Pettersson 13 22 June 1994 13 22 October 2015 was identified as the attacker by Expressen 14 According to Aftonbladet the perpetrator had visited right wing extremist groups at social media sites supporting Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany 15 He had also joined a group on Facebook that wants to stop immigration to Sweden 15 The Swedish Security Service were called in to investigate these findings 15 Pettersson had no criminal record and was not a member of any political organisation but had supported a petition by the Sweden Democrats to initiate a referendum on immigration 3 He left a handwritten note at his home in which he declared that something had to be done about immigration and that he did not expect to survive his spree citation needed Pettersson lived in an apartment in the neighbourhood of Stavre but chose to attack the Kronan School in Kronogarden where there are more immigrants police cited this as more evidence towards his motive 3 Former classmates described the perpetrator as a lonely person who lived in his own world and always dressed in black clothes influenced either by the emo or rock scene 15 Bjorn Ihler a survivor of Norwegian far right extremist Anders Behring Breivik s terror attacks in 2011 wrote in The Guardian that in 2013 Pettersson had liked a YouTube video of former Ku Klux Klan leader Johnny Lee Clary testifying how a positive experience with a black man had caused him to disavow his previously held beliefs 16 Aftermath and reactions EditPrime Minister Stefan Lofven travelled to Trollhattan after news of the attack calling it a black day for the country 2 Interior Minister Anders Ygeman wrote on Twitter It is with sadness and dismay I received the news of the attack on the school in Trollhattan My thoughts go to the victims and their families 2 King Carl XVI Gustaf said that the royal family received the news with great dismay and sadness 17 In the days following the attack there were reports of people wearing suspicious outfits or brandishing weapons which were discovered to be people celebrating Halloween The police warned the public not to carry imitation weapons with their Halloween costumes to avoid potentially dangerous misunderstandings 18 The school remained closed until 2 November when it reopened with higher security An Afghan father told The Local that he wished to leave the neighbourhood for his family s safety 19 On 29 September 2017 the first book about the school attack was published Det som aldrig fick ske 20 The book contains completely new facts for example a secret suicide note that the police and the Pettersson family did not know existed In the book the brother of Anton Lundin Pettersson speaks out for the first time 21 The author Asa Erlandsson won the Stora Journalistpriset the finest prize in journalism in Sweden for the book 22 In 2019 the attacker behind the Christchurch mosque shootings at Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch New Zealand mentioned Pettersson in his manifesto and declared his support for him 23 See also Edit Sweden portalHomicides in Sweden in 20152015 Gothenburg car bombing 2015 Gothenburg pub shootingRacially motivated homicides in Scandinavia1991 92 Stockholm shootings 2009 10 Malmo shootings 2011 Norway attacks 2015 IKEA stabbing attackReferences Edit Tre dodsoffer Vuxen elev och garningsman Three deaths adult student and perpetrator Svenska Dagbladet in Swedish 22 October 2015 Archived from the original on 25 October 2015 Retrieved 22 October 2015 a b c d e Sweden sword attack Two dead after masked attacker strikes BBC News 22 October 2015 Archived from the original on 22 October 2015 Retrieved 22 October 2015 a b c d e f g Crouch David 23 October 2015 Swedish police say school attack was racist as refugee rules tightened The Guardian Archived from the original on 14 October 2017 Retrieved 23 October 2015 https www mirror co uk news world news darth vader killer seen chilling 7518459 https www independent co uk news world europe sweden school attack silent killer was driven by racist motives say police a6705286 html https www washingtonpost com news morning mix wp 2015 10 23 the terrifying sword wielding man in darth vader mask who attacked swedish school 2 dead Vinograd Cassandra 22 October 2015 Sword Attack at Kronan School in Trollhattan Kills Teacher Wounds 3 NBC News Archived from the original on 22 October 2015 Retrieved 22 October 2015 Kurdish teacher student killed in stabbing attack on Swedish school Ekurd net 23 December 2015 Archived from the original on 8 December 2015 Retrieved 13 January 2016 Kurdish victim who tried to stop Sweden school shooting praised Rudaw net 23 December 2015 Archived from the original on 18 January 2016 Retrieved 13 January 2016 Taylor Adam 23 December 2015 Swedish school worker killed trying to protect students in racial attack hailed as hero The Washington Post Archived from the original on 7 January 2016 Retrieved 13 January 2016 Sa hyllar varlden Lavin Eskandar for hans stora hjaltemod pa skolan Newsner com 23 December 2015 Archived from the original on 29 December 2015 Retrieved 13 January 2016 Han marscherade som en militar He marched like a soldier Aftonbladet in Swedish 23 October 2015 Archived from the original on 30 July 2017 Retrieved 23 October 2015 Lararen dod efter attacken i Trollhattan Lararen dead after attack in Trollhattan Aftonbladet in Swedish 4 December 2015 Archived from the original on 6 December 2015 Retrieved 4 December 2015 Wikstrom Sanna Salihu Diamant Berntsson JonathanOlsson Olsson Daniel Tredje offret dod efter skolattacken Third victim dead after school attack Expressen Archived from the original on 4 December 2015 Retrieved 4 December 2015 a b Svenske medier Anton Lundin Pettersson 21 drepte to personer med sverd Swedish media Anton Lundin Pettersson 21 killed two people with sword in Norwegian 22 October 2015 Archived from the original on 27 May 2016 Retrieved 22 October 2015 El Mochantaf Christer Nilsson Gustaf Olsson Daniel Berntsson Jonathan Anton Lundin Pettersson mordade tva i skolan Anton Lundin Pettersson murdered two at school Expressen in Swedish Archived from the original on 22 October 2015 Retrieved 22 October 2015 a b c d Tagesson Eric Granlund John Nordstrom Isabelle Svahn Niklas Anton 21 misstanks for morden pa skolan Anton 21 suspected of the murder in school Aftonbladet in Swedish Archived from the original on 23 October 2015 Retrieved 22 October 2015 Ihler Bjorn 23 October 2015 The Trollhattan killer didn t become an extremist overnight Somebody could have stopped him The Guardian Archived from the original on 24 October 2015 Retrieved 25 October 2015 Perry Dave 22 October 2015 UPDATE Sweden s king Country in shock after attacks Aurora Sentinel Archived from the original on 8 December 2015 Retrieved 22 October 2015 Swedish police don t wear Halloween masks The Local 23 October 2015 Archived from the original on 24 October 2015 Retrieved 25 October 2015 Trollhattan pupils return after fatal school attack The Local 2 November 2015 Archived from the original on 3 November 2015 Retrieved 10 November 2015 Bocker Archived from the original on 14 October 2017 Retrieved 14 October 2017 Anton Lundin Petterssons bror berattar nu om tiden fore dadet Aftonbladet in Swedish Archived from the original on 22 August 2019 Retrieved 22 August 2019 Det som aldrig fick ske Stora Journalistpriset storajournalistpriset se in Swedish Archived from the original on 22 August 2019 Retrieved 22 August 2019 Hyllade Anders Breivik och Anton Lundin Pettersson Acclaimed Anders Breivik and Anton Lundin Pettersson Expressen in Swedish 15 March 2019 Retrieved 9 June 2019 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Trollhattan school attack amp oldid 1139855671, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
