On Friday, 21 August, an 18-year-old armed with a sword attacked the Brinell School in Fagersta, Sweden, in the first week of the new school year. A 17-year-old girl was killed, and three other young people were wounded — two of them, boys of 12 and 17, severely. A school of five hundred students had only just returned from the summer break. By Saturday morning the people of Fagersta were gathering at a memorial with flowers and candles, a whole town holding its children close. We pray for the girl who was lost and for her family, for the healing of the wounded, and for the teachers, doctors and counsellors caring for this community — may peace return to its classrooms.