Two women in their 50s have died after a violent attack at a secondary school in the southern Swedish city of Malmö, police say.
An 18-year-old student at the school has been arrested on suspicion of murder.
Local media report that he was armed with a knife and an axe, though police are yet to officially confirm details.
The two women, employees at Malmö Latin School, were taken to hospital by ambulance but died of their injuries.
About 50 people, both students and teachers, were in the building when the incident took place. Police said they received reports of a “suspected serious crime” just after 17:00 (16:00 GMT) on Monday.
When they arrived, emergency services found two people injured at the large secondary school in Sweden’s third-largest city.
“It is with great sadness that we can state that two people lost their lives in this terrible event and our thoughts go to their relatives and friends,” said Malmö police chief Petra Stenkula.
The alleged attacker reportedly called emergency services himself and admitted to having killed two people, according to Swedish media.
Police evacuated the school and searched its grounds, but found “no indication” of any more perpetrators.
Teachers and pupils told local media police had entered the school with their weapons drawn and ordered them to remain locked in their classrooms for several hours.
The school remained cordoned off with police tape several hours later, with numerous police cars and ambulances still at the scene.
“This is absolutely terrible,” headteacher Fredrik Hemmensjö told the Aftonbladet newspaper, saying there had been “deadly violence” at the school.
Officers said they were still trying to work out what was behind the incident.
“Now a great deal of work awaits to be able to understand what happened and the underlying motive for this terrible event,” said Malmö north police chief Åsa Nilsson.
Police are due to hold a press conference on Tuesday morning with more details.
Source: BBC
