Swedish police have detained a 16-year-old suspected of shooting and killing three people in the city of Uppsala on Tuesday.
The individual is one of several being interrogated over the fatal attack, Sweden’s prosecution said Wednesday, according to Reuters.
The three victims were aged between 15 and 20, Swedish police said.
Officers have conducted door-to-door inquiries to seek further information from witnesses. Police said the victims’ next of kin have not yet been notified.
A large police operation was underway following the shooting near Uppsala’s Vaksala Square, public broadcaster SVT reported, adding that the suspect is believed to have fled the scene on an electric scooter.
Members of the public reported hearing loud bangs that resembled gunshots in the area. Several people were found with injuries that indicated gunshots.
“We have received several reports of bangs in the area. That is what we can say at this time. I cannot say more,” Magnus Klarin, a spokesperson for the Swedish police, said before the deaths were confirmed, according to SVT.
The motive behind Tuesday’s incident is as yet unclear. Earlier this year, the European Parliament said that Sweden is “currently battling a wave of gang violence.”
In 2023, Sweden had the highest rate of deadly gun violence per capita in the European Union, according to Reuters. In 2024, at least 40 people were shot dead in the country of only 10 million people – down from a peak of 63 people shot dead in 2022.
Although Sweden has high rates of gun ownership by EU standards, Swedes have to obtain a license before being allowed to own a weapon and the country places tight restrictions on eligibility.
Tuesday’s shooting comes just months after a gunman opened fire at an adult education center in the Swedish city of Örebro, in what the country’s prime minister called the “worst mass shooting in Swedish history.”
A total of 10 victims were killed in the attack, which took place in February, and another six people were injured.
