Malmö police probe two weekend shootings
At least one shot was fired in a residential area in the Malmö district of Husie on Sunday, the latest incident in a series of shootings that have rocked the city in recent weeks.
The night before, a tailor's shop and hairdressing salon on the corner of Lönngatan and Norra Grängesbergsgatan in Malmö's Augustenborg district was also exposed to gunfire while the owner was inside.
A family discovered a bullethole in the balcony window of their home on Västra Skrävlingevägen in Husie on Sunday. This was the third shooting reported this weekend in the city.
At 10.30am, a man reported that he and his family thought they had heard fireworks overnight. Later, the family discovered what looked like a bullethole in the balcony window and curtain. The apartment is located on the second floor.
Police technicians at the scene have confirmed that this is yet another shooting.
"There is a hole in the pane of glass and a hole in a curtain," said Lars Rosberg of the Skåne police.
Calle Persson, public relations officer at Skåne police, confirmed to the TT news agency that police technicians have found a bullet or bullet fragment in the apartment.
The family that lives in the apartment are of foreign origin and were not previously known to the police. Police are now going door to door door in the area to look for witnesses who may have seen the shooting.
Separately, overnight, police took a man in his 50s in for questioning on suspicion of involvement in the shooting in Augustenborg. The man was released after questioning and he is no longer under suspicion, police said.
Fifty-seven-year-old Naser Yazdanpanah, who is of Middle Eastern origin, owns the business that was attacked on Saturday. He was in the shop when he heard a bang early on Saturday evening. He saw a man outside and went out.
He was then headbutted by the offender, who fled by bicycle. He was slightly injured, but was taken to hospital. He did not see the weapon nor the shot. Dog patrols have searched the area.
Police were called at 6.35pm on Saturday. Yazdanpanah returned to the premises on Sunday morning to serve its customers. He works 13 hours a day, seven days a week.
"One must always fight and now against him or her or those who go around and shoot people. I do not want to let them think they have won," he said defiantly to TT, but with fatigue clearly hanging over him.
When TT met him, he had not slept for 40 hours.
Yazdanpanah and his wife had attended a demonstration in Malmö against all the shootings and violence on Saturday afternoon. Several hours later, he himself was at the centre of the next shooting.
On Friday evening, a man reported that he felt someone had shot in his direction following a spate of shootings targeting people of immigrant origin.
Police this week said they were setting up a task force of up to 50 police officers to look into around 15 unsolved shootings in the southern city of Malmö, Sweden's third-largest, over the past year, which could be motivated by racism.
The crimes bear a chilling similarity to the case of an immigrant-shooting sniper in Stockholm in the early 1990s.
Laserman was the nickname given to John Ausonius, who shot 11 people of immigrant origin, killing one, in and around Stockholm from August 1991 to January 1992.
Ausonius, who in many of the attacks used a rifle equipped with a laser sight, was sentenced to life behind bars in 1994 and remains in prison.
Just as with the Laserman case, the recent shootings in Malmö come at a time when an openly anti-immigration party has just entered the Swedish parliament.
This year, the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats won 20 seats in parliament in the September 19th election with an especially strong showing in the south of Sweden.
Police have warned residents against panic, stressing a text message appearing to come from police that had been circulating urging people to stay indoors was fake.
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The night before, a tailor's shop and hairdressing salon on the corner of Lönngatan and Norra Grängesbergsgatan in Malmö's Augustenborg district was also exposed to gunfire while the owner was inside.
A family discovered a bullethole in the balcony window of their home on Västra Skrävlingevägen in Husie on Sunday. This was the third shooting reported this weekend in the city.
At 10.30am, a man reported that he and his family thought they had heard fireworks overnight. Later, the family discovered what looked like a bullethole in the balcony window and curtain. The apartment is located on the second floor.
Police technicians at the scene have confirmed that this is yet another shooting.
"There is a hole in the pane of glass and a hole in a curtain," said Lars Rosberg of the Skåne police.
Calle Persson, public relations officer at Skåne police, confirmed to the TT news agency that police technicians have found a bullet or bullet fragment in the apartment.
The family that lives in the apartment are of foreign origin and were not previously known to the police. Police are now going door to door door in the area to look for witnesses who may have seen the shooting.
Separately, overnight, police took a man in his 50s in for questioning on suspicion of involvement in the shooting in Augustenborg. The man was released after questioning and he is no longer under suspicion, police said.
Fifty-seven-year-old Naser Yazdanpanah, who is of Middle Eastern origin, owns the business that was attacked on Saturday. He was in the shop when he heard a bang early on Saturday evening. He saw a man outside and went out.
He was then headbutted by the offender, who fled by bicycle. He was slightly injured, but was taken to hospital. He did not see the weapon nor the shot. Dog patrols have searched the area.
Police were called at 6.35pm on Saturday. Yazdanpanah returned to the premises on Sunday morning to serve its customers. He works 13 hours a day, seven days a week.
"One must always fight and now against him or her or those who go around and shoot people. I do not want to let them think they have won," he said defiantly to TT, but with fatigue clearly hanging over him.
When TT met him, he had not slept for 40 hours.
Yazdanpanah and his wife had attended a demonstration in Malmö against all the shootings and violence on Saturday afternoon. Several hours later, he himself was at the centre of the next shooting.
On Friday evening, a man reported that he felt someone had shot in his direction following a spate of shootings targeting people of immigrant origin.
Police this week said they were setting up a task force of up to 50 police officers to look into around 15 unsolved shootings in the southern city of Malmö, Sweden's third-largest, over the past year, which could be motivated by racism.
The crimes bear a chilling similarity to the case of an immigrant-shooting sniper in Stockholm in the early 1990s.
Laserman was the nickname given to John Ausonius, who shot 11 people of immigrant origin, killing one, in and around Stockholm from August 1991 to January 1992.
Ausonius, who in many of the attacks used a rifle equipped with a laser sight, was sentenced to life behind bars in 1994 and remains in prison.
Just as with the Laserman case, the recent shootings in Malmö come at a time when an openly anti-immigration party has just entered the Swedish parliament.
This year, the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats won 20 seats in parliament in the September 19th election with an especially strong showing in the south of Sweden.
Police have warned residents against panic, stressing a text message appearing to come from police that had been circulating urging people to stay indoors was fake.
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