The Trollhättan School Attack

A City Marked by Division

The Swedish city of Trollhättan has commonly been described as the most ethnically segregated city in the country. It has experienced a number of hate crimes on various occasions in the past.

The most recent of these harrowing incidents to make front-page headlines around the globe occurred at Kronan High School on 22 October 2015, when twenty-one-year-old Swedish national Anton Lundin Pettersson murdered three people and injured another with a sword.

Pettersson’s Background and Ideology

Pettersson had no prior criminal record and was not affiliated with any political organisation. Although he did support a petition by the Swedish Democrats to initiate a referendum on immigration, according to investigators.

He was known to regularly visit extremist websites that supported Adolf Hitler and had also joined a Facebook group that highly opposed Sweden’s immigration policies.

Targeting Kronogården

Pettersson chose to launch his attack at that particular school because it was situated in Kronogården, a small town that housed a high number of immigrants. The police used this information to establish his motive.

Additionally, there is some evidence that suggests he had autism, but he was never diagnosed because his parents didn’t want him to undergo an evaluation. He would often avoid eye contact and had difficulty understanding the emotions of other people around him.

Former classmates of Pettersson described him as a loner who “lived in his own world” and dressed in a style influenced by the emo scene. Self-harm scars were present on both his arms, and he regularly watched videos of people committing suicide online.

The Attack Begins

The attack began when Pettersson entered Kronan High School just after 10am on 22 October. He was wearing black clothing, a long cape, a paintball mask, and a Stahlhelm (German for steel helmet) combat helmet. Media outlets compared his appearance to that of Darth Vader, a fictional villain from the Star Wars movie franchise.

He was armed with a sword and a tanto knife, although the latter wasn’t used at any point during the attack.

Eyewitnesses initially believed that Pettersson was wearing a Halloween costume, so they weren’t immediately aware of the impending danger.

First Casualties

Lavin Eskandar, a twenty-year-old teaching assistant and a Feyli Kurd, was brutally stabbed to death by Pettersson after he confronted him near the entrance to the school.

A young student named David Issa witnessed the attack and shouted “what the hell are you doing?” in Pettersson’s direction. Pettersson swung at him with the sword in retaliation, but he only managed to graze Issa.

Pettersson then stabbed fifteen-year-old Somali student Ahmed Hassan multiple times. He would later perish as a result of his injuries.

Another Syrian student, Wahed Kosa, was also stabbed just moments later, but he survived his injuries.

A Chilling Photo Opportunity

Soon after, two female students encountered Pettersson whilst they wandered throughout the hallways. They mistook his appearance as some sort of Halloween prank, so they struck up a pose with the deranged attacker and snapped a picture on one of their phones.

The police believe that Pettersson spared both of them because they had white skin. The girls said that he was playing “horrible, Halloween-type” music and did not engage in conversation with them.

The Final Victim

A forty-two-year-old teacher, Nazir Amso, then came into the hallway and asked Pettersson what he was doing. “You’re scaring the children, you can go,” is what Amso supposedly said.

Pettersson nodded before he plunged the knife into Amso’s torso. The teacher would perish six weeks later in hospital on 3 December.

Police Response and Pettersson’s Death

The severity of the situation was clear by now, as hundreds of panicked students fled from the building.

Armed police officers arrived at the school at 10:16 and they discovered the body of Lavin Eskandar at the entrance. They roamed the halls until they came face-to-face with Pettersson and demanded that he drop the sword. He refused. The officers pointed their firearms at him. Pettersson then charged at the officers and was shot in the abdomen, bringing an end to the horrific ordeal.

Pettersson would perish later that night in hospital before investigators had the chance to interview him.

National Reaction

News of the attack quickly spread throughout Sweden, with then Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven stating that it was a “black day” for the country.

The perpetrator behind the Christchurch Mosque shootings in 2019, Brenton Tarrant, declared his support for Pettersson in his manifesto and also wrote his name on one of the weapons that was used during the shooting spree.

Kronan High School recruited additional security personnel when it reopened on 2 November in response to the incident.