Three killed, several injured after Malmö shooting
Three people were killed and three others wounded in a shooting in the centre of the southern Swedish city of Malmö on Monday, police said, ruling out a terrorist link.
Malmö police said shortly before midnight that an 18-year-old had died in hospital, and around half an hour later they confirmed that another one of the injured, a 29-year-old, had also died. A third was confirmed dead on Tuesday morning, and three other people were treated in hospital for their injuries.
The first calls about the shooting were made to police shortly after 8pm on Monday evening.
"There are a lot of police working on the incident," police press officer Fredrik Bratt said.
A police spokesman told AFP that the possibility of a terrorist link to the attack had been discounted. According to the Aftonbladet daily, the victims were attacked as they left an internet cafe in the middle of the town.
Witnesses were quoted as saying that at least one attacker was armed with an automatic weapon.
The police initially refused to comment on the identity of the possible attacker or attackers, who they said fired the shots from a car or a fixed location, as well as declining to give details of the victims.
Later on Tuesday however, it was revealed that the shooting was part of a gang conflict.
"There are a number of gang conflicts we're treating as heated at the moment and this is one of them. But we didn't have information about something happening here and now," Stefan Sinteus from Malmö police told news agency TT.
"We know that there have been shootings where several people were injured, but it's uncommon for three people to be killed as happened last night."
While Sweden has relatively low levels of crime, neighbourhoods in Malmö, Stockholm and Gothenburg have seen a rise in violence attributed to gangs fighting over drug trafficking and prostitution.
READ ALSO: Why Sweden has more fatal shootings per capita than Norway and Germany
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Malmö police said shortly before midnight that an 18-year-old had died in hospital, and around half an hour later they confirmed that another one of the injured, a 29-year-old, had also died. A third was confirmed dead on Tuesday morning, and three other people were treated in hospital for their injuries.
The first calls about the shooting were made to police shortly after 8pm on Monday evening.
"There are a lot of police working on the incident," police press officer Fredrik Bratt said.
A police spokesman told AFP that the possibility of a terrorist link to the attack had been discounted. According to the Aftonbladet daily, the victims were attacked as they left an internet cafe in the middle of the town.
Witnesses were quoted as saying that at least one attacker was armed with an automatic weapon.
The police initially refused to comment on the identity of the possible attacker or attackers, who they said fired the shots from a car or a fixed location, as well as declining to give details of the victims.
Later on Tuesday however, it was revealed that the shooting was part of a gang conflict.
"There are a number of gang conflicts we're treating as heated at the moment and this is one of them. But we didn't have information about something happening here and now," Stefan Sinteus from Malmö police told news agency TT.
"We know that there have been shootings where several people were injured, but it's uncommon for three people to be killed as happened last night."
While Sweden has relatively low levels of crime, neighbourhoods in Malmö, Stockholm and Gothenburg have seen a rise in violence attributed to gangs fighting over drug trafficking and prostitution.
READ ALSO: Why Sweden has more fatal shootings per capita than Norway and Germany
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