Swedish police arrest teenager after three killed in Uppsala shootings
The victims who have yet to be identified are aged between 15 and 20 years old
Swedish police arrested a 16-year-old on suspicion of murder following a shooting in which three people were killed.
The shooting took place at a hair salon, called “Shalom” located near Vaksala Square in the centre of the city of Uppsala. The victims have not yet been publicly identified, but it has been confirmed that they were between the ages of 15 and 20 years-old.
The suspect was arrested on Tuesday and is one of several people being interrogated as part of the investigation, police told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.
Erik Akerlund, Chief of the Uppsala District, said that police were in contact with people believed to be related to the victims.
Police believe there is no connection between the shooting and the hair salon itself.
Swedish state prosecutor Andreas Nyberg, who is leading the investigation, confirmed in a press release to DN that “intensive investigative work is underway.”
“We are now gathering information, and the police are conducting door-to-door inquiries and interviewing witnesses. In addition, mobile phones and other material that have been seized are being analysed,” the statement said.
The force said they had cordoned off a large area in the city, which is near the country’s capital, Stockholm, and that they had no information about the incident being a terror or hate crime at this point.
Witnesses told DN they heard between eight and ten loud bangs before spotting a person with their hoodie up and a face mask fleeing the scene on an electric scooter.
“We have information that a person left the scene on an electric scooter,” a police spokesperson told Reuters. “Whether this person is a perpetrator or a witness, or someone who has some connection to the incident, it is unclear at this time.”
The motive of the shooting was unclear as of yet, with police investigating it as a homicide.
Electric scooters have been used several times as a mode of escape after gang conflict shootings in Sweden. Uppsala, some 40 minutes north of the capital, Stockholm, by car, has seen many gang-related shootings in the past decade, but usually outside the city centre.
Swedish justice minister Gunnar Strommer said the justice ministry was in close contact with the police and that it was closely monitoring developments in the case.
"A brutal act of violence has occurred in central Uppsala ... This is at the same time as the whole of Uppsala has begun Walpurgis Night. What has happened is extremely serious," Mr Strommer said in a statement.
“Everything happened so fast. It just went bang, bang, bang,” an eyewitness told Swedish channel TV4.
Police said the incident was believed to be "an isolated event" and not linked to the extensive Walpurgis night celebrations expected in Uppsala on Wednesday.
The traditional festival marking the arrival of spring is a major public event and draws large crowds to the city’s streets, with a number of activities put on in celebration.
Around 100,000 people are expected to travel to the city for the celebrations.