A gun as evidence (Photo by Marcel Burger)

Another violent week in Stockholm. With multiple shootings, including one aimed at the Israeli embassy which is likely linked to the throwing of grenades to the diplomatic post of Israel in Copenhagen, also this week.

On 2 October, three shootings took place within a time frame of 20 minutes in the Swedish capital. First aimed at an apartment in the Brandbergen area in the south, then one in the Farsta area and the last one a kilometre from the second shooting. A week earlier, a 15-year-old was caught outside a Stockholm nightclub with an automatic weapon. The police has arrested several suspects for the shootings of this week.

Swedish teenage shooters in Denmark

On 1 October, shots were fired at the Israeli embassy in Stockholm. Swedish media report that the shooting was likely executed by the Foxtrot criminal network on behalf of Iran. The same for two grenades thrown at or near the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, a day later. For the Danish attacks, the Copenhagen police arrested three Swedish teenagers.

Also in the beginning of August, Danish police arrested two Swedish teenage boys (16 years and 17 years old) for a shooting in Kolding and another in Copenhagen. In July, a 19-year-old Swedish was arrested with a pistol outside a flat in Amager near Copenhagen, while another 19-year-old Swedish man was caught with a hand grenade in Valby.

Swedish gangs in Norway

Police is Norway fears the violence of Swedish gangs will only increase in the next couple of years, after concluding in August this year that they already operate in the whole of Norway. Swedish gangsters are suspect in several crimes, with three Swedes suspected for attempted murder with an explosive device in a villa area of Dröbak in Southern Oslo this summer. Money laundering, economic crimes, violence and threats from Swedish gangs are common, according to a police statement.

600 gang members outside Sweden

Sweden has trouble getting a grip on gang crimes, partly because the gangs in Sweden are steered or controlled by about 600 gang members in 57 other countries, according to a recent mapping by the Swedish police’s national operations department (Noa). For about 150 of those 600 gang members abroad, Sweden has issued an international arrest order. | © 2024 Marcel Burger, nordicreporter.com (text and featured photo)