Attack on a school in Trollhättan

Similar Incidents

Armed attacks on educational institutions in Sweden are rare; The largest incident of this kind in the history of the country until 2015 was the incident that took place on March 4, 1961 at school in the city of Kungelve , where one person died as a result of the shooting, and another six were injured of varying degrees of severity ^{[1] [2] [3]} .

Other similar cases were also mentioned in the media: in 2001, in the town of Sundsvall, a 19-year-old boy broke into a local school, where he killed a girl and seriously wounded a young man, in the same year, in a gymnasium in the suburbs of Stockholm, 16 were shot summer student ^[3] . In 2011, a 33-year-old student from Gothenburg threatened to shoot at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and then commit suicide. He was able to calculate and arrest; later, during interrogation, he called his threats a joke ^[4] .

Migration situation in Sweden

In 2015, as part of the reception and distribution program for refugees , about 163 thousand migrants arrived in Sweden, of which more than 35 thousand were unaccompanied teenagers, mainly from Afghanistan , and only 20% of those who arrived had documents ^[5] .

The migration policy of the Swedish authorities is ambiguously perceived by citizens of the country. According to sociological research data, in 2015, 34% of respondents would like to accept less migrants and 31% were in favor of an increase in the migration flow; in 2016, this ratio changed to 60% and 13%, respectively. Among other things, according to surveys in 2015, 54% of the respondents “certainly” and 26% “probably” wanted to help the new arrivals; in 2016, these figures, according to experts at the Inizio Center, decreased to 30% and 12%, respectively, and the number those who do not want to help migrants at all, increased from 11% to 21% ^[6] .

According to Konstantin Voronov, head of the European Political Studies Department of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences , Sweden has “increased resistance" from below "to this policy," and the authorities themselves are partly "guilty" because, as the researcher notes, its most liberal migration policy and generous welfare system acts as an oasis of well-being and openness for foreigners ” ^[7] .

The city of Trollhattan with a population of about 50 thousand people is located in Western Sweden and is the center of the commune of the same name Lena Västra-Götaland . Like a number of other Swedish cities, he actively participates in the refugee reception and distribution program: in 2014, more than 3 thousand foreigners arrived in Trollhetan. In a sociological survey in 2012, when citizens were asked to rate on a 10-point scale, how safe they feel in the evening and at night, the Trollhattan average score was 5.1 / 10 compared to 6.5 / 10 for Sweden as a whole ^[1] . According to some researchers, the city has a long history of hate crimes, starting with the burning of a mosque in the 1990s ^[8] .

Anton Niklas Lundin-Pettersson ( Swede. Anton Niclas Lundin Pettersson ) was born on June 22, 1994 ^[9] . He lived in the area of ​​Stavre Trollhettana, graduated from the local technical gymnasium Lichron with a degree in technology, had no prior convictions, did not belong to political organizations ^{[10] [11]} . He was fond of video games containing elements of violence ( GTA , Postal ), listened mostly to rock and metal ( Raubtier , Rammstein , Marilyn Manson groups, etc.), visited the 4chan image board ^[12] . Acquaintances of Lundin-Petterson described him as a calm but insular person ^[13] . “He played video games and existed in his own world,” the young man’s former school friend later told ^{[14] [15]} .

Lundin-Pettersson was fond of the history of the Second World War and Nazism . As shown by a search at his home, as well as an analysis of his visits to Internet sites, he adhered to right-wing radical views and sympathized with anti-immigrant movements ^{[11] [16]} . The young man took an active part in supporting the campaign initiated by the Swedish Democrats party to hold a referendum on refugees in Sweden ^[11] . In addition, he marked “ I like ” the materials in which Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich were glorified; on the avatar of his Facebook page he posted an image with the emblem of the Nazi eagle, but without a swastika ^[15] .

For two years, Lundin-Pettersson was registered with the employment service and unsuccessfully tried to find a job, as a result of which he experienced economic difficulties. Shortly before the incident at school, Anton managed to get an internship at the company, where he planned to continue working on an ongoing basis, but on October 6 it became known that he would not succeed ^[12] . Failure finally pushed Lundin-Pettersson to commit a crime, which he began planning on October 8 ^[16] .

As a target for the attack, based on racist convictions, the young man chose the Russian in the Krunegården district Municipal School "Krunan" ( Swede. Kronan ). As of 2015, about 400 students enrolled in it, and 90% of them were children of immigrants ^{[16] [17]} . In preparation for the attack, Lundin-Pettersson acquired cold arms and other items that he needed to carry out the attack, took time off from work allegedly to visit a dentist, and also studied photographs of the premises of the educational institution ^[12] . As noted by the representative of the police in public relations of Western Sweden, Thomas Fuchsborg, among other things, Lundin-Pettersson left a farewell letter in which he accused migrants of all the problems of Sweden and said that he “decided to do something about it” ^[16] .

On the morning of October 22, 2015, Lundin-Pettersson, leaving a business card and a farewell letter on his bed, headed for the Krunan school building ^[12] . The young man’s robe resembled Darth Vader ’s star antagonist “ Star Wars ” epic: he wore a black cloak, his face was hidden by the mask of this character from a masquerade set, and a German helmet from World War II was wearing a head ^{[11] [13] [18] [19]} . The attacker had a sword with him, as well as, according to some media, two axes ^{[19] [20]} .

Around 10:00 ( UTC + 2: 00 ) Lundin-Pettersson entered the school building. The appearance of a man with a weapon and a mask did not arouse anxiety among pupils and teachers: in “Krunan” these days they were preparing for a Halloween costume party, so everyone was sure that the unknown dressed in exactly this event ^{[11] [21]} . The attacker, without attacking anyone, talked with students for some time, took pictures with them (one of the collective photographs was later published by the press ^[22] ), but soon attacked with a sword at a nearby school employee in the school cafeteria ^{[1] [2 ] [11]} . Children who witnessed the first attack escaped ^[11] .

Realizing that a masked man was a serious danger, some students and teachers closed in classrooms. As it was possible to establish with the help of recordings from surveillance cameras, Lundin-Pettersson, in headphones, in which music played loudly, marching, moved through the corridors of the building, knocked on the doors of classrooms and, if someone opened it, attacked the people there ^{[19 ] [23]} . “We had a social science lesson. During the classes there was a knock at the door. One of my comrades opened the door. There was a man in black, wearing a Star Wars mask and a big black sword, ”a 14-year-old student of the school described one of the episodes of the attack ^[2] .

“He aimed at people with dark skin color, while he spoke to people with light skin color and did not cause any damage to them,” Tord Haraldsson, the main investigator of the attack, later explained. ^[11] At the same time, the criminal inspector noted that the criminal had no specific goals ^{[1] [11]} .

The signal of the attack entered the local police at 10:09 (according to other sources, at 10:10 ^[14] ) local time ^[24] . Policemen who arrived at the scene five minutes after the attack were reported found Lundin-Pettersson on the second floor of the school building. The offender made a sword attack in the direction of the security forces, after which they opened fire on him with pistols, making two shots to kill. With injuries to the chest and liver area, the attacker was taken to a local hospital, where he died during the operation ^{[11] [24]} .

The incident killed three people - two school staff and one student.

• The first victim of Lundin-Pettersson was a 20-year-old Lavin Eskander, who worked as a school assistant teacher; he died at the scene. According to eyewitnesses, Eskander was sitting at the computer in the school cafeteria, and, seeing that the criminal with the sword was moving to a group of students, he tried to protect them ^[10] . People who knew the victim well described him as a “really pleasant and sociable person” ^{[8] [11]} .
• The second victim is 15-year-old Ahmed Hassan, a school student: he was wounded in the stomach and later died in hospital ^{[8] [13]} . His parents moved to Sweden from Somalia in 2012; according to official data, the teenager was 17 years old, but, as his mother later reported, his age in the documents was too high ^[11] .
• The third was the death of 42-year-old math teacher Nazir Amso. During the incident, the teacher stood up for the students of the school and was seriously injured, in particular, one stab wound was inflicted in the immediate vicinity of his liver. The press reported that Amso is recovering, but on December 3, 2015 it became known that he died in hospital ^[25] .

Two pupils of the school also received injuries of varying degrees of severity during the attack: according to press reports, one was 15 years old at the time of the incident and he was also from a refugee family, the other was in eighth grade ^{[17] [19] [26] [27 ] ]} .

From the evening of October 22, the inhabitants of Trollhattan began bringing flowers and candles to the school building ^[28] . On October 25, rallies and actions were held throughout Sweden, in which the memory of those killed in the attack was observed a minute of silence ^[29] . Many residents left flowers and candles near the school building ^[28] .

Condolences to the families of those killed and injured were expressed by the King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustav . On November 12, 2015, he and his wife visited the scene of the incident ^{[28] [30]} . “Immediately after the incident, parents, children, and school leaders felt terrified depression and insecurity. If it was possible to give them a little faith and courage, to talk with them, then we should have done it, ”the monarch later noted. ^[31]

Swedish Prime Minister Stephen Leuven also expressed his condolences to the relatives of the victims of the attack. “The school should be a place where children study, play, show curiosity and are friends, so this tragedy affects our entire country,” he said ^[14] . Also, the head of government stressed that the attack was “an extremely unusual phenomenon for Swedish schools,” and, in his opinion, it “should remain such an exception” ^[28] .

A year after the incident, on the evening of October 22, 2016, a torchlight procession took place in Trollhättan in memory of those killed in the attack. A column of people with lighted candles and torches passed through the city streets. At the end of the march, a rally was held, in which about a thousand people took part ^[32] .

Migration Issues

Soon after the circumstances of the attack and the motives of the murderer became known, the focus of Swedish society was the problems associated with the country's migration policy, in particular, the growing dissatisfaction with a large part of its citizens ^{[7] [18]} .

Swedish Education Minister Gustav Fridolin, who represents the Green Party , commenting on the racist motives of the assailant, said: “Sometimes racism is described as a poison that penetrates society and turns it into something else. And it is clear that this is one of the possible models for describing that terrible, impossible to understand what happened. But I think it is still very early to consider such a conclusion as final ” ^[11] .

On October 24, the day after the attack on the school, a refugee camp burned down in Trollhattan. The police launched a preliminary investigation into a possible arson case, since, according to the available data, there were no natural causes for the occurrence of a fire ^[33] .

October 29 Swedish Social Democratic Youth League held on the square Medborgarplast in Stockholm there was a rally against racism, at which a number of Swedish politicians spoke, in particular, the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Sweden in 2007–2011 Mona Sali ^[34] .

Halloween Celebration Incidents

After the attack in Trollhattan among the Swedish population, there were fears about the repetition of a similar situation: throughout the country, the citizens were sent to the police by false signals about armed people in suits ^[1] . Thus, the staff of the gymnasium in the city of Östersund called the police after two people in masks and swords appeared at the entrance to the facility, which later turned out to come to the Halloween party, which traditionally is accompanied by various costumed events ^[35] . In Gothenburg, eight policemen stormed the tram car after reports that there was a man in military uniform carrying "several firearms"; later, the security forces found that the man was heading to a Halloween event, and the weapon was a toy ^[1] .

Swedish police urged citizens to carefully choose Halloween outfits and refrain from wearing fake weapons. “If you think that this is“ just a joke, ”you do not understand how serious it is, and do not follow the instructions of the police, then the matter can take a dangerous turn. There is a real risk that you will be hurt if you behave in a threatening manner, ”- said in an interview with the news agency TT police officer Martin Landin ^[1] .

In some educational institutions in Sweden, decisions were made on the full or partial cancellation of the celebration ^[36] . Thus, in the school on the outskirts of Stockholm Spong, the administration prohibited students from wearing masks during a planned costume party, as well as bringing backpacks with them. At the school of the commune Estra-Göing in the province of Skåne, instead of a holiday, the students were invited to a general discussion to discuss the attack in Trollhättan ^[35] .

The issue of security in educational institutions

In connection with what happened in Swedish society, the question was raised about strengthening security measures in the schools of the country. “Many parents in Sweden are now wondering how to send their children to school after what happened. How to make schools safer? I note from myself that when I picked up my daughter from school on the day of the tragedy, anyone could have entered the school building, no precautions were taken, ”said Maxim Lapitsky, a journalist of Sveriges Radio , commenting on the situation ^[11] .

“So it should not be. Bo Jansson who wrote about this is right that schools are perceived as a public place, but they are not. Schools - for students and teachers working in them. And it is clear that you need to think about security in schools, as well as it applies to other jobs, ”Gustaf Fridolin, the minister of school education, expressed his point of view. The head of department did not specify exactly how schools should provide security by redirecting a specific solution to this problem to school leaders ^[11] .

• Lapitsky M. The Racist Motives of the Massacre at the Trollhettana School (rus.) // Sveriges Radio (translation to InoSMI.ru ) . - October 27, 2015.