STOCKHOLM (AP) – Three people were killed overnight in separate incidents in Sweden as deadly violence linked to a feud between criminal gangs escalated.
Late Wednesday, an 18-year-old man was shot dead in a Stockholm suburb. Hours later, a man was killed and another was wounded in a shooting in Jordbro, south of the Swedish capital.
Early Thursday a woman in her 20s died in an explosion in Uppsala, west of Stockholm. The blast, which damaged five houses, is being treated by the police as a murder. Swedish media said the woman who died likely was not the intended victim and that the target was the house next door.
Police investigate the scene where a young man was shot dead in southern Stockholm on September 27, 2023. (Photo by Pontus LUNDAHL / TT NEWS AGENCY / AFP) / Sweden OUT (Photo by PONTUS LUNDAHL/TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP via Getty Images)
Swedish broadcaster SVT noted that the two fatal shootings brings the death toll from gun violence in September to 11, making it the deadliest month for shootings since police started keeping statistics in 2016.
It was not known whether the shootings or the blast were related to each other but Swedish media said at least two of the three events were somehow connected to a feud between criminal gangs, a growing problem in Sweden with drive-by shootings and bombings.
Speaking Thursday on Swedish broadcaster TV4, Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer said “it is a deeply tragic development. I understand that people feel anger, fear and sadness.”
A damaged house is pictured after a powerful explosion in a residential building in the Ekholmen area in Linkoping, Sweden, on September 26, 2023. According to the police, a preliminary investigation into public destruction and offences against flammable and explosive goods has been initiated. A woman aged 25 has been taken by ambulance to hospital for a check-up. She was awake and able to speak. (Photo by Stefan JERREVANG / TT NEWS AGENCY / AFP) / Sweden OUT (Photo by STEFAN JERREVANG/TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP via Getty Images)
Two gangs – one led by a Swedish-Turkish dual national who lives in Turkey, the other by his former lieutenant – are reportedly fighting over drugs and weapons.
Four people have been detained on suspicion of complicity in the fatal shooting in Jordbro. Police said that two people have been arrested over the Uppsala explosion, which was so violent that the facades of two houses were blown away.
Earlier this week, two powerful explosions ripped through dwellings in central Sweden, injuring at least three people and damaging buildings, with bricks and window sections left spread outside.
Sweden´s center-right government has been tightening laws to tackle gang-related crime, while the head of Sweden´s police has said that warring gangs have brought an “unprecedented” wave of violence to the country.
Earlier this week, Strömmer reiterated that Sweden will increase the penalty from three years to five years for possessing explosives without a permit as of April 1 when new legislation enters into force.