Swedish police have arrested a teen suspect after three youths aged from 15 to 20 were killed in a shooting at a hair salon, authorities said on Wednesday, April 30th, amid rising concern over gang violence in the Scandinavian nation.
Tuesday’s shooting took place in broad daylight in the university city of Uppsala, a day before it hosted the Valborg spring festival, which draws more than 100,000 people for bonfires and celebrations in the streets, many of them students.
“One person has been arrested on suspicion of murder,” police commander Erik Åkerlund told reporters, with prosecutors saying the suspect was 16.
Swedish media reported that at least one of the dead had connections to a criminal gang, though police would not confirm those reports.
Uppsala, about 70 kilometres north of Stockholm, is home base for Sweden’s two most notorious gangs, Rumba and Foxtrot.
Their leaders, Ismail Abdo and Rawa Majid, are both now believed to be orchestrating operations from abroad.
Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson called the shooting “an extremely violent act.”
Sweden has struggled for years to rein in shootings and bombings between rival gangs.
Åkerlund said several people “considered of interest in the investigation” had been brought in for questioning.
