“No one knows what I have planned. Not even my best friend.”
That’s what the 16-year-old boy writes to a friend on Snapchat at the end of January. Two months later he was arrested, suspected of having planned a deadly school attack in the Gothenburg area. The verdict will be announced today.
According to the prosecution, the boy acquired several knives, a protective vest and a mask with a skull motif to wear at the time of the crime. During a house search, a text is found that he himself calls his manifesto, in which he expresses right-wing extreme views.
The police also find a list of people at the school where he wrote “dead” or “injured”. One schoolmate in particular is singled out on the list, a boy whose schedule the 16-year-old also saved on his computer.
In October, he was charged with, among other things, preparation for the murder of the designated boy and “other randomly selected persons” at the school.
“Kind of radicalized”
When the police search the house, a drawing is found in the boy’s room. In questioning, the boy explains that it represents three people: The man who killed three people in the school attack in Trollhättan in 2015, the 18-year-old who killed two teachers at Malmö Latin School in 2022 and the teenager who was convicted of stabbing a teacher in Eslöv.
In questioning, he says that he sees the former as a role model. In chat conversations with friends, he writes that he is “going to make a Trollhättan”.
The 16-year-old devotes a lot of time to far-right groups on social media, where he exchanges thoughts with like-minded people. He is asked by the police if the opinions he expresses are in jest, or if there is any seriousness in them.
– A certain seriousness. I’ve kind of been radicalized, the boy replies.
When he gets angry, he fantasizes about attacking those who were mean to him at school. At the same time, says the 16-year-old in police interrogation, it’s just fantasies – a way to get rid of aggression after conflicts.
He also says that he wouldn’t want to kill anyone for real.
– I probably wouldn’t have dared to do anything.
On social media, according to the investigation, he comes into contact with two people who previously committed school crimes. One is convicted of stabbing a teacher and a student in Kristianstad last year, the other for stabbing a teacher in Eslöv in 2021.
Discusses music choices
With the latter, he discusses music choices for the crime on social media.
“I made the mistake of taking too calm songs,” writes the friend of the 16-year-old.
According to the indictment, the attack would have taken place on May 11 this year. In questioning, the 16-year-old states that it is because he has a sleepover on Thursdays and that he would then have more time to prepare.
“The only downside is that what the hell will my grandma and grandpa think,” he writes to a friend on Snapchat.
The boy is also charged with violating the Weapons Act and violating the Explosive Goods Act because he had two cartridges and a small amount of explosive goods in his room.
At 11 o’clock on Thursday, Alingsås district court will announce the verdict in the case. Prosecutor Karin Andersson has requested youth supervision as punishment.
– The penalty value that I considered to be equivalent to youth supervision, it is a step above pure youth care, so to speak, she says.