Kristianstad school attack

The Kristianstad school attack was a stabbing that occurred on 10 January 2022 at NTI Gymnasiet, Kristianstad, Sweden. Laaiti Ekenstéen, a then 16-year-old student, armed himself with four knives and injured two people before disarming himself and calling SOS Alarm. He then sat down and calmly waited for the police to arrive and was then arrested only 7 minutes after the attack began. The arrest was undramatic and Ekenstéen remained cooperative throughout the entire investigation.[1]

Kristianstad school attack
Surveillance footage of Ekenstéen walking through the school
LocationNTI Gymnasiet, Kristianstad, Sweden
Coordinates56.030630°N 14.153880°E / 56.030630; 14.153880
Date10 January 2022 (2022-01-10)
Attack type
Weapons
  • Four knives (only one used)
Deaths0
Injured2
PerpetratorLaaiti Ekenstéen
Motive
VerdictGuilty; sentenced to 3 years in a youth detention centre and must pay damages
Convictions
  • Attempted murder
  • Grossly unlawful threats

Background

Sweden and wider Scandinavia has had a history of stabbings, most notably the Trollhättan school attack, in which three people were killed with a sword at Kronan, Trollhättan, Sweden.

Often these attacks are influenced by a discontent with immigration policies and will target immigrants and minority ethnic groups. School attacks have not occurred frequently in Sweden, but instances of school attacks in Sweden have increased in the 2020s.[2]

Attack
Knives Ekenstéen stabbed into a desk.

At 9:05 AM Laaiti Ekenstéen entered NTI Gymnasiet, armed with four knives, dressed in black clothing, a face mask and black gloves, wandering the corridors of NTI Gymnasiet whilst playing "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen on a portable bluetooth speaker that he had attached to his belt.[1]

Ekenstéen entered a classroom, walked towards a teacher and stabbed him multiple times, injuring him. Ekenstéen then proceeded to walk towards the student sitting closest to the main exit of the classroom and immediately attempted to stab him. The student ran into a crowd of other students that had been proceeding to an emergency exit. Ekenstéen then went into the crowd and swung the knife, injuring the same student.[1]

At approximately 9:14 AM, when all other students had escaped the classroom, Ekenstéen disarmed himself by stabbing three of the knives into a desk and laying the fourth knife ontop of it. Ekenstéen then proceeded to make a phone call to SOS Alarm, Sweden's phoneline for emergency services, explaining that he had injured two people and that he is a close friend to Hugo Jackson, who had perpetrated the Eslöv school attack, four months prior.[1]

Perpetrator
Laaiti Ekenstéen
Photograph of Ekenstéen at the police station.
Born
Laaiti Richard Ekenstéen

(2005-05-16) 16 May 2005
Nationality
  • Swedish
  • South African
CitizenshipSwedish
EducationNTI Gymnasiet
Criminal statusIncarcerated
Date apprehended
10 January 2022

Laaiti Richard Ekenstéen (born 16 May 2005), a student of NTI Gymnasiet, was identified as the attacker. Ekenstéen grew up in Staffanstorp, Skåne, Sweden, but he and his family later moved to Hanaskog, Skåne. According to police, Ekenstéen had a history of mental illness and violent tendencies. He was also diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as well as Oppositional defiant disorder, according to the investigation documents. Ekenstéen had reportedly experienced hallucinations the months before the attack occurred.[3][4]

Police had reportedly found a manifesto on Ekenstéen's computer, which is said to contain "racist content". As of 2 September 2023, the manifesto had not been released to the public. Police had also found that Ekenstéen often had spread right-wing propaganda online and that he made frequent Google searches about violent crimes and stabbings. The most frequent searches were about the Columbine High School massacre in which two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, shot and killed 13 students and injuring 24 students before committing suicide.[3][4]

Eslöv school attack
Main article: Eslöv school attack

On 19 August 2021 a then 15-year-old student of Källeberg school, Hugo Jackson, attacked his school in Eslöv, Sweden, armed with four knives, injuring one person.

Ekenstéen and Jackson were in close contact with each other and communicated through online messaging services. According to Jackson, the two were "blood brothers". They had met on the online video game Roblox and had been friends for around 6 years, communicating through various social media platforms and meeting in person 4 or 5 times.

Ekenstéen told police that he and Jackson would discuss and joke about topics like politics, racism and various mass shootings such as the Christchurch mosque shootings and Halle synagogue shooting, both which were livestreamed. These discussions between Ekenstéen and the police occurred prior to the Kristianstad school attack and were part of the investigation into the Eslöv attack. The extent of the knowledge Ekenstéen had of Jackson's plans or if he aided him at all is unclear. Jackson was sentenced to 2.5 years in a youth detention centre.

Laaiti Ekenstéen was arrested and jailed for the following 8 months until his conviction on 14 June 2022, where he was sentenced to 3 years in a youth detention centre after being found guilty of three counts of attempted murder and two counts of grossly unlawful threats. He was ordered to pay roughly 440,000 SEK (plus interest) in damages to victims.[5]

The original sentence was later overruled but remained unchanged on 22 August 2022.[6]

See also

References
  1. "Detta vet vi om skolattacken på NTI Gymnasiet". kristianstadsbladet.se (in Swedish). 11 January 2022. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  2. Ravndal, Jacob Aasland (2018-05-17). "Right-wing Terrorism and Militancy in the Nordic Countries: A Comparative Case Study". Terrorism and Political Violence. 30 (5): 772–792. doi:10.1080/09546553.2018.1445888. hdl:10852/64981. ISSN 0954-6553. S2CID 150148992.
  3. "Misstänkt för skolattack delade filmer på massmord". aftonbladet.se (in Swedish). 13 January 2022. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  4. "Kristianstad knivanmälan, polisen.se, MEGA".
  5. "17-åring knivhögg lärare och elev – döms till tre års sluten ungdomsvård". kristianstadsbladet.se (in Swedish). 14 June 2022. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  6. "Domen står fast – 17-åring försökte döda lärare och elever på NTI". kristianstadsbladet.se (in Swedish). 22 August 2022. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
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