Swedish police say motive for deadly school attack still unclear after student arrested

By Anna Ringstrom

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – A Swedish high school student arrested on suspicion of killing two teachers in the southern city of Malmo on Monday was not previously known to police and his motive was still unclear, the Malmo police chief said on Tuesday.

The 18-year-old was arrested on suspicion of murdering two women in their 50s at his school in Malmo. Around 50 students were at the school at the time of the attack but nobody else was hurt, according to police.

Malmo’s police chief Petra Stenkula said she did not know of any indications so far that the attack was motivated by racism or by religious extremism.

“I haven’t heard of anything like that right now. But it can be much too early to say anything about that,” she told a news conference.

Swedish daily Aftonbladet reported on Tuesday, not identifying its sources, that the student had attacked the women with a knife and an axe.

Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson told Swedish news agency TT on Tuesday that she had received the news with “grief and dismay” and that her thoughts were with the victims’ families and friends.

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom and Helena Soderpalm, Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)