During his lunch break, Kent Sedin, 62, suddenly became a witness to the knife fight in Eskilstuna where four school students were seriously injured.
The chaos was stopped by a motorist, he says.
– When the crowd had dispersed, some young people were left with stab wounds.
At 1 pm on Thursday, Kent Sedin and some colleagues had eaten lunch and walked along the Eskilstuna River. Suddenly they saw how 20-30 young people gathered about 20 meters away from them at the Munktell sports complex. In just a few seconds, a violent brawl broke out.
– We are all surprised. I pick up the phone and call the police. All of a sudden I see someone kicking someone who is lying down. Then I understand that it is serious.
Motorist stopped the fight
Kent Sedin noticed an elderly woman sitting in a car. He saw how she started honking and driving straight towards the crowd.
– She lays down on the horn so that the group disperses, the young people start running away. She manages to stop this.
Everything went in just a few minutes. When the crowd had dispersed, some of those involved remained on the ground. Several people came to the scene and helped treat the injured youths, who were found to have stab wounds. The police and ambulance show up after a few minutes.
– There were many civilians who helped before that. Civil society is good when it matters. It was impressive to see.
Four injured – two arrested
The knife fight occurred in connection with an outdoor day. Four school students who are all in the ninth grade had to be taken to hospital. At 22:00 on Thursday evening, they were treated for serious injuries. Two people between the ages of 15 and 17 have been arrested by prosecutors, suspected of attempted murder.
Kent Sedin says that he and his colleagues were shocked by the incident. Afterwards, they talked about what had happened over a cup of coffee at the workplace.
– You just get sad and despair. You mostly feel that the young people are destroying themselves and others.
“Feels heavy”
He grew up in Eskilstuna and, in addition to his work at the trade union Byggnads, is a leisure politician for the Social Democrats. A few hours after the knife fight, he is still shaken up. Above all, he thinks of the relatives of those involved.
– They also have parents who care about them and who are afraid of them. If I had children myself, I wouldn’t want them involved in stuff like this. It feels heavy tonight.