Trollhättan school attack

The city of Trollhättan has a history of previous hate crimes, including an arson attack at a mosque in the 1990s. It has been considered to be the most ethnically segregated city in Sweden.[3]

Pettersson entered Kronan at 10:06, wearing black clothing, a cape, a Stahlhelm-style helmet and a paintball mask. At first, eyewitnesses believed Pettersson's presence to be a Halloween prank.[4] Media outlets compared Pettersson's appearance to the appearance of Darth Vader, a fictional character in the film franchise Star Wars.[5]

20-year-old teaching assistant Lavin Eskandar confronted Pettersson, who immediately stabbed him. Eskandar died at the scene.[6] Pettersson then stabbed a 15-year old Somali student, Ahmed Hassan, who died from his injuries later in hospital. Pettersson then stabbed a 15-year-old unnamed Syrian student, who survived his injuries.[7]

Whilst wandering the halls, two students encountered Pettersson and, believing his presence to be a Halloween prank, posed with him and took a picture. Niclas Hallgren, the city's police chief, said that Pettersson spared them due to them having white skin.[8][9]

Shortly after, a 42-year-old teacher, Nazir Amso, confonted Pettersson and demanded he remove his mask. Petterson then charged at Amso and stabbed him. Amso died of his injuries six weeks later in hospital on 3 December. Shortly before 10:16, police officers arrived at the scene, ten minutes after Petterson arrived at the school. Pettersson reportedly charged at police and was shot in the abdomen, later dying from his injuries in hospital.[10]

Anton Niclas Lundin Pettersson (22 June 1994 – 22 October 2015)[11] was identified as the attacker by Expressen.[12] 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] According to Aftonbladet, Pettersson had visited far-right and extremist websites supporting Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany and had also joined a Facebook group that opposed immigration to Sweden.[13] The Swedish Security Service was called in to investigate these findings.[13]

Pettersson lived in an apartment building far away from Kronan but chose to attack the school due to it being in Kronogården, a town with a high immigrant population; police cited this as more evidence towards his motive.[3] Former classmates described Pettersson as a lonely person who "lived in his own world" and dressed in black clothing influenced by the emo or rock scene.[13]

Bjørn Ihler, a survivor of the 2011 Norway attacks, 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 racist beliefs.[14] He was also said to have interacted with online content that demeaned women and religious people.[14]

On the morning of 23 October, a day after the attack, Swedish police and media confirmed that the attack had "racist motives" and that it was a "hate crime".[15] Niclas Hallgren, the city's police chief, stated that all of the victims of the attack were "dark-skinned".[3] Head of Investigation, Thord Haraldsson said that CCTV footage showed that Pettersson spared the lives of students with white skin.[8][9]

After the news of the attack, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven travelled to Trollhättan, calling it a "black day" for the country.[10] Minister for Integration 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".[10] King Carl XVI Gustaf said that the royal family received the news "with great dismay and sadness".[16]

During the days following up to Halloween, 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.[17] Kronan school remained closed until 2 November, when it reopened with higher security.[18]

On 29 September 2017, the first book about the attack was published: What Was Never Allowed To Happen: The Trollhättan School Attack (Swedish: Det som aldrig fick ske: Skolattentatet i Trollhättan)[19] The book contained information about the attack previously unavailable to the public, including writing of a message Pettersson sent to an online friend before the attack that the Pettersson family did not know about. The author, Åsa Erlandsson, spoke to the brother of Pettersson.[20] Erlandsson won the Stora Journalistpriset for the book.[21]

On 25 March 2019, two consecutive mass shootings occurred in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, where 51 people were killed and 40 others were injured. The perpetrator behind the attacks mentioned Pettersson in his manifesto and declared his support for him, in addition to writing Petterson's name on one of his guns.[22][23]

Inspired attacks

• Christchurch mosque shootings
• Eslöv school attack

Homicides in Sweden in 2015

• 2015 Gothenburg car bombing
• 2015 Gothenburg pub shooting

Racially motivated homicides in Scandinavia

• 1991–92 Stockholm shootings
• 2009–10 Malmö shootings