A teacher was killed and four students were injured, two seriously, when a masked man carrying a sword attacked a school in southwestern Sweden, officials said Thursday.
Swedish officials told the Associated Press that the attacker was in serious condition after being shot by police. Health officials said the two seriously injured students were 11 and 15 years old.
Students fled Thursday morning from the Kronan school in Trollhattan, north of Goteborg, Sweden's second-largest city. Authorities said the attack took place in the school's cafe area.
Police spokesman Thomas Fuxborg told The Associated Press the attacker was in his 20s and carried more than one weapon, including "at least one knife-like object." Fuxborg said police fired two shots, one of which hit the attacker.
A spokesman for the NAL hospital told Sky News that four people had been admitted from the school, including the attacker.
"The other people treated at the hospital are young but not kids," the spokesman said. "Some of them have serious injuries and are being operated on." He added that the deceased victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
The school has 400 students from preschool to high school. A live feed on the website of the local Goteborg Tidning daily showed people standing outside a red-brick building with police cars and ambulances parked outside.
Swedish media say the school held a meeting Thursday morning to discuss teachers' worries that the school was too open, with a cafe for adults that meant the school could not control who comes in.
The Dagens Nyheter newspaper said students must go through the cafe to reach the school's own cafeteria and other parts of the building.
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven cancelled his schedule and was heading to Trollhattan.
