Sweden school attack victim loved music, dreamed of stardom

Leigh Eskandar, the brother of slain victim Lavin Eskandar, left, and Saman Nazar, his cousin, gesture at their home during an interview with Associated Press in Trollhattan, Sweden, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2015. Lavin Eskandar, a 20-year-old teacher’s assistant, was stabbed to death as he tried to shield children from a masked, sword-wielding attacker whose school rampage shocked Sweden on Thursday, Oct. 22. Hundreds of people gathered Sunday to remember the victims at the Kronan school in Trollhattan, where most of the students are children of immigrants. The attack, coming at a time of unprecedented levels of migrants arriving in Sweden, has deeply stunned this industrial city, which witnessed a wave of racial violence in the 1990s. (AP Photo/David Keyton) Leigh Eskandar, the brother of slain victim Lavin Eskandar, left, and Saman Nazar, his cousin, gesture at their home during an interview with Associated Press in Trollhattan, Sweden, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2015. Lavin Eskandar, a 20-year-old teacher’s assistant, was stabbed to death as he tried to shield children from a masked, sword-wielding attacker whose school rampage shocked Sweden on Thursday, Oct. 22. Hundreds of people gathered Sunday to remember the victims at the Kronan school in Trollhattan, where most of the students are children of immigrants. The attack, coming at a time of unprecedented levels of migrants arriving in Sweden, has deeply stunned this industrial city, which witnessed a wave of racial violence in the 1990s. (AP Photo/David Keyton)

By Associated Press October 25, 2015 3 min read

TROLLHATTAN, Sweden (AP) – When Lavin Eskander’s family describes his cheerful personality and his passion for music, they switch back and forth between present and past tense, as if they haven’t fully accepted that he’s not coming back.

The 20-year-old teacher’s assistant was stabbed to death Thursday as he tried to shield children at a school in southern Sweden from a masked, sword-wielding attacker. Fifteen-year-old Ahmed Hassan was also stabbed to death and two other people seriously injured in what police are calling a racist hate crime. Police shot and killed the attacker.

“My brother wanted to be an artist,” Leith Eskander, 22, told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday. “He wanted to be famous and spread his songs and his love to the people.”

Both Lavin and his brother were born in Sweden to Iraqi parents.

Their cousin, Saman Nazar, called Lavin a born entertainer who always made people laugh.