More than 100 explosions this year: “increases the danger for third parties”

The pain in her neck and back has subsided, but the anxiety and horrible memories linger.

It was a completely normal day at Hagakliniken in central Gothenburg, as common as a day in a doctor’s office in the middle of a pandemic can be.

Then came the bang. Suddenly and without warning. Then the pressure wave, the smoke, the fire alarm, and the panic.

– It was chaos. Some began to cry. I tried to help a lady who was walking on crutches. There was so much smoke that it was hard to see, and I was always afraid it would start to burn, says Ingrid, who was at the Haga Clinic on November 11 when a powerful explosive charge detonated.

Someone had placed an explosive object inside a small bathroom that Ingrid had visited several times before. Two people were injured in the detonation. A woman in her 85s suffered serious injuries and was taken to hospital.

Ingrid thinks it’s terrible that completely innocent people can experience something like this when they visit a doctor’s office. Feel stronger for the older woman.

– I get so mad when I think about it. No one deserves this, but least of all this woman, he says.

Two years ago The Police Authority started keeping statistics on the number of bombings in Sweden. At that time, 90 were registered throughout the country, of which 11 in the West police region to which Gothenburg belongs. That number has increased. Until November 15 of this year inclusive, a total of 101 explosions have been registered. The West Region has 17 of them, while Stockholm has 30 and the South Police Region with 38.

– Part of the criminal environment has gotten used to this through explosions and it may have to do with the fact that you feel there are fewer risks with it than with shooting. When you go to shoot someone, you have to be close to the person you are shooting, but when you explode, you have time to get away and then the risk of witnesses seeing you also decreases, says Erik Nord, chief of police at the Gran Gothenburg.

Explosions are frequent a form of warning or threat and occurs, according to police, almost exclusively in an environment populated by professional criminals and gang members. Erik Nord highlights, however, the risk that this type of crime affects what he calls third parties, that is, ordinary citizens who have nothing to do with crime.

– What the aggressor benefits from not being present comes back in the form in which the danger to third parties increases greatly. You don’t get a chance to cancel if a class comes from school, says Erik Nord.

A still unpublished study carried out by the police authority examines how many outsiders are affected by explosions and gun violence in Sweden. During the years 2011-2020, three outsiders died and 12 were injured in the bombing.

Criminologist Joakim Sturup wrote about the DN Debatt study and claimed that perpetrators often lack control over the situation, which carries a greater risk to the public.

– If you do not shoot at a running person or a moving vehicle, you only shoot in one direction and the assailant is in place when shooting. But during explosions, the explosive effect goes 360 degrees from the explosive site, it also goes up and down. If you put it in an apartment building, there is a risk for the people around, but also on the floor above and the floor below, he tells DN.

Many of the explosions taking place in the West Region are being investigated by the felony section in Greater Gothenburg, which is led by Peter Kron police. He highlights the bombing that took place in a parking lot in Landvetter in November last year as an example of an event that could have claimed the life of an outsider.

– There was a woman standing there with her car, she had backed up and was standing diagonally behind the car where she was small. The pressure wave exited from the sides and the rear and front of the car, so it was only hit by parts of it. If it had been standing right behind the car, it probably would not have survived. It could have ended really bad, he says.

According to police technicians, about five kilos of dynamite had been placed under the car of the intended victim and the vehicle was thrown into the air during the detonation. At the same time, parts of him were launched like deadly projectiles in various directions.

– They have no control, they just light up and stick together. Show how ruthless they are, says Peter Kron.

The Hagakliniken bombing It is suspected that it is directed at the family of the doctor’s owner and it is not the only one to which the family has been exposed.

In August, a hand grenade exploded next to a villa in Krokslätt in Gothenburg that belongs to one of the family members. In October, an explosion occurred outside the entrance to the doctor’s office.

One theory is that the attacks are linked to a dispute, in which a relative of the doctor’s owner is involved. The court documents show how a childhood friend demanded 400,000 Swedish crowns from the relative, who also visited the clinic to collect. In August, the Gothenburg District Court ruled in a ruling that there was no evidence that the debt existed.

Preliminary investigation into the attack in Hagakliniken it is run by prosecutor Mats Ihlbom. He tells DN that no arrests have been made, but that the investigation is progressing.

– We have interesting people for the investigation. More than that I cannot comment. There have been no suspicious interrogations.

The incident at the clinic has strongly influenced Ingrid. She explains that she is not feeling very well at the moment. She agrees to tell her experiences if she can be anonymous and has therefore been given another name by DN in this article.

– I guess you react differently to something like this. Some of us find it difficult to just go outside right now. You feel scared and powerless, he says.

Also read: Suspect of torture murder involved in explosions in Husby and Kista

Read the DN news from West Sweden.