Swedish police arrest teenage boy for shopping centre shooting

Reuters

Published Aug 19, 2022 11:49AM ET

Updated Aug 19, 2022 05:46PM ET

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Swedish police on Friday arrested a teenage boy for killing one person and injuring another in a shooting at a shopping centre in the southern city of Malmo.

A man died from his injuries and an woman is being treated in the hospital after the incident at the Emporia centre, the police said.

"The immediate danger to the public is judged to be over," the police said in a statement https://polisen.se/aktuellt/handelser/2022/augusti/19/19-augusti-1707-skottlossning-malmo. "At present, the incident is considered to be connected to the criminal environment."

The police were on the scene questioning witnesses and going through material from surveillance cameras.

Murders due to gang violence has been on a rise in Sweden and is topping voters' concerns ahead of elections next month.

So far this year, 44 people have been shot dead in Sweden, almost all of them in connection with suspected gang crime, according to police. That compares to 46 for all of 2021.

Representatives from the police and the city of Malmo will hold a news conference on Saturday morning.