A teenager has died after being shot in the southern suburbs of Stockholm – one of a spate of shootings across Sweden over the past week.
Police were called after loud bangs were heard in Vastertorp at around 8pm local time on Thursday, with the injured boy – whose age was not given – taken to hospital before dying of his wounds overnight.
The other shootings include four in the university city of Uppsala – two of them fatal – and two others in Stockholm, where a 13-year-old boy lost his life.
Stockholm police said they were still seeking a suspect. “I don't have a clear answer as to whether this is connected to other murders recently, but it is something we are investigating,” said spokesperson Towe Hagg.
Sweden has faced an increase in shootings in recent years which police and authorities blame on criminal gangs fighting over arms and drug trafficking, using guns and explosive devices. Earlier this week, the national police chief, Anders Thornberg told a press conference that the latest wave of violence had reached an “unprecedented” level.
“Several boys aged between 13 and 15 have been killed, the mother of a criminal was executed at home, and a young man in Uppsala was shot dead on his way to work,” he added.
“Citizens are afraid, [and] insecurity is increasing. And this at a time when we have raised our terrorist alert level in the country.”
A number of crimes involving gangs had been foiled in recent days, the police chief added, saying that such preventative work was key. “Several people have been arrested and weapons confiscated in Uppsala alone, where the situation is very serious,” said Ulf Johansson, a police officer in the region, about 40 miles (65km) north of Stockholm.
Up until the end of August this year – which does not include the recent spate of incidents – there were 247 shootings across Sweden, according to national statistics. Those led to 30 deaths. Seventy-six of these occurred around the region of Stockholm.
Last year, 62 people were killed in 391 shootings across the country, with 128 of those incidents around Stockholm.
Announcing the statistics in December, justice minister Gunnar Strommer called it a modern-day record. “Deadly gun violence has increased and unfortunately has hit a new, bloody record this year,” he said.
Mr Strommer said at the time that the 62 deaths compared to four in Norway, four in Denmark and two in Finland. In 2021, 45 people were shot dead in Sweden. In 2012, the total was 17.
Also last year, there were 90 explosions and 101 attempted explosive attacks were recorded, according to the data. So far this year, more than 100 explosions have already been recorded.
Sweden has gone from having one of the lowest rates of gang violence to one of the highest over the past 20 years, according to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, with the current government vowing to crack down on gang crime.
