School in Sweden closed after discovery of suspected hand grenades, reports say

A school in Sweden was temporarily closed on Wednesday after two suspected hand grenades were found nearby.

“All students, parents and teachers have been informed and no one is allowed to leave the school,” school administrator Susanne Karlsson told Swedish state broadcaster SVT. “Staff walks around the school talking to students who have questions. We are following our routine.”

About 800 students attend the school, which SVT said was in the Hässleholmen area of ​​the city of Borås, about 40 miles east of Gothenburg.

Police were called to the scene around 7:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday, when the first suspicious grenade was found. Shortly after, a second suspicious grenade was discovered, local media reported.

The area was cordoned off and a national bomb disposal team was called in, police spokesman Fredrik Svedemyr told SVT. Local media later reported that the team had tampered with the objects, and Svedemyr said there was “no need for the blockade to remain in place”, although some police cordons would remain.

Explosives have been a growing problem in Sweden in recent years, and police reported that while criminal shootings have decreased in the country, explosions have increased. The most common explosives used in criminal incidents are fireworks and hand grenades.

Fireworks are used as explosives in homemade bombs, police said, while hand grenades are smuggled into the country, and most attacks are aimed at intimidating people rather than harming them.

Most of the attacks have been carried out by criminal networks, although “the investigation can be complicated, as several levels and people may be involved, from the person who ordered the explosive to the perpetrator on the street,” police said.

In a public notice released earlier this month, law enforcement said that, “in several cases, the explosions are suspected to have been motivated by extortion against businesses or people linked to the businesses and their families. Police urge owners of businesses affected by extortion to contact police directly and not pay money.”

In:

• Sweden
• bomb threat