Gang violence blamed for assault on Swedish pub that leaves 2 dead
Print Edition
Two men were killed and more than 10 were wounded late on Wednesday when gunmen burst into a pub firing automatic weapons in a suspected gang-related attack in the Swedish city of Gothenburg.
Customers in the bar were watching football on television when at least two gunmen, reportedly wearing skeleton masks and yellow high-visibility vests, rushed in.
“We are assuming that this is gang-related and not a terrorist attack,” said police spokesman Bjoer Blixter.
“We’ve had similar problems with shootings for several years but never of this magnitude.”
A manhunt is under way for the assailants who fled by car after the shooting in a predominantly immigrant area of Sweden’s second city.
Gothenburg police said they have launched a murder investigation and are questioning a large number of people but no arrests have been made.
“They aimed directly at people ... at their heads,” a pub employee told the Aftonbladet tabloid of the attack.
Blixter said two people aged 20 and 25 died and between 10 and 15 others were wounded, but the death toll could rise. The injured were aged between 20 and 60.
Aftonbladet quoted the mother of the 20-year-old who was shot dead, who said he had only dropped by the combined pub and restaurant to collect takeaway food.
“He was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” she said.
Sahlgrenska University Hospital said it was treating eight people, including one with life-threatening injuries and two in a serious but stable condition.
Sweden and neighboring Denmark have a longstanding problem with gangs battling for control of the local drugs trade and protection rackets.
Regional police chief Klas Friberg said officers had been “on their toes” because of an uptick in reports of gang clashes.
“We have different types of criminal gangs, which are prepared to ... use extreme violence,” he told reporters.
A witness told Aftonbladet that two people entered the pub armed with weapons that looked like Kalashnikovs and started shooting.
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