Suspicious teenager arrested after 3 people killed in hairdressing in Sweden

The Swedish police arrested a suspect teenager after three young people aged 15 to 20 were killed in a shooting at a hairdresser, authorities said Wednesday, in the midst of the growing concern about gang violence In the Scandinavian nation.

Tuesday’s shooting took place in broad daylight one day before the Valborg Spring Festival in the University City of Uppsala, which attracts more than 100,000 people for bonfires and celebrations, many of them students.

“A person has been arrested suspicion of murder,” police commander Erik Akerlund said to journalists on Wednesday, and prosecutors said the suspect was 16 years old.

Akerlund said the victims’ identities had not been confirmed “100%,” the BBC reported.

Swedish media reported that at least one of the dead had connections with a crime gang, although the police did not confirm those reports.

“That is something we are obviously looking for, but we do not want to commit ourselves only to that” possibility, the Uppsala Police spokesman Stefan Larsson told News.

UPPSALA is the basis of operations of the two most notorious gang leaders in Sweden, Ismael Abdo and Rawa Majid, who believe they are orchestrating operations from abroad. A new violent chapter in Sweden gangs wars began when Abdo’s mother was killed in 2023 at her home in Uppsala, BBC reported.

The Scandinavian country has fought for years to control the shootings and bombings between rival gangs.

Akerlund said several people “considered interest in research” had been presented to interrogate.

He said the police had obtained images of the scene of the scene and “said many evidence.”

The Minister of Justice, Gunnar Strommer, described the “extremely serious” murders, while the mayor of Uppsala, Erik Pelling, told the News that he was “shocked and dismayed” by the events.

“I’m also angry because it could happen,” he added.

“We are forced to live with these crimes. I am frustrated that we could not address this problem more effectively,” Pelling said.

Recent violence in Sweden

Sweden has fought for years to control shootings and bombings.

On Sunday, a mother and her little son were seriously injured when a homemade bomb passed her home, the media reported, adding that a neighbor suspect with ties with criminal gangs had been the real target.

Earlier this month, two people died in an alleged gang fight in Gothenburg, while a renowned rapper was shot dead in a gang battle in the city last year.

Perpetrators are often young adolescents hired as contract murderers because they are less than 15 years old, the age of criminal responsibility in Sweden.

The Swedish government has proposed a new legislation that would allow the police to cable children under 15 in an attempt to stop violence, according to the BBC.

In the country of 10.6 million people, 92 murders were recorded in 2024, 29 less than 2023, the lowest level since 2014, according to official data.

There were also 296 reported shootings, for fifth in the previous year, according to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention.

The central minority government of the right of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who is backed in Parliament by Sweden Democrats against immigration, came to power in 2022 with a vote of getting hard with the crime.

Sweden was also shaken by his The worst mass shooting in February When Rickard Andersson, 35, entered the Adult Education Center of Risbergska of the Campus in the city of Orebro and shot 10 people before turning the gun.

After that shooting, the government and the party of the Sweden Democrats on the right said they planned to advance with proposals to adjust the arms laws, including the restriction of access to semi-automatic weapons such as the AR-15, the Swedish news agency TT reported.

Currently, the laws of Sweden already imply strict licenses for all the property of firearms, with directly made applications to the force of the National Police and the possible necessary applicants to demonstrate that a weapon will be used for an acceptable purpose, such as hunting or target shooting, and not being misused.

Applicants must also submit hunting or target shooting certificates previously obtained. Hunting certificates require people to pass a training course, while Target shooters must be certified as active and experienced club members.

In a country of approximately 10.5 million people, there were just over 660,000 arms owners registered in early 2024, according to the Swedish news agency TT. Those registered owners had about 2 million weapons, objects that are considered firearms and parts of weapons that require permission.

TT reported that 1.6 million of these weapons are registered for hunting, and another 176,000 to shoot target.

In:
• Shooting
• Sweden