Students locked in Swedish school after knife scare, police say ‘just a search for a sad boy’
Students at a school in Hofors, Sweden, were locked in their classrooms after reports emerged of a man armed with a knife on the premises. A large police force was dispatched to look for what turned out to be an upset schoolboy.
According to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, a man with a knife was spotted walking around the building at Petr school, causing alarm among teachers, who then reportedly locked students inside the classrooms.
Eight police patrol cars later arrived at the scene, the newspaper reported.
“I cannot say anything about what is happening , you can turn to the head teacher or the police,” the school caretaker told Aftonbladet.
The head of the school was not available for contact, Aftonbladet reported.
The students locked in the classrooms apparently managed to report their situation on social media.
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“We are sitting in the classroom… all sit and think about what might happen,” student theo.hiller wrote in her Instagram account.
According to Gefle Dagblad, police later denied that a person armed with a knife was threatening the school.
Police spokesman Michael Hedstrom said the information about a man with a knife was only a rumor, and that police were in fact looking for a missing person.
A student at the school, a young boy under the age of 15, had reportedly gone home upset after an argument.
“Then he disappeared from home. We are looking for him with patrols and dogs, we are trying to search as much ground as possible before it gets dark,” said Hedstrom.
The missing boy was later found safe and sound. Police report there was no indication that an armed person had approached the school.
“I do not know where this information comes from. It has become messy at the school and this has come out in some way,” Hedstrom said.
