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Last Friday night, a man convicted of drugs in his 30s was found dead in De Geersgatan, in Östermalm district, after being stabbed with a knife. One person was arrested on suspicion of murder, but was released two days later.
This is the 11th murder in the Stockholm region since the turn of the year and is believed to have its roots in criminal conflicts.
In neither case does the police appear to be in the process of finding a solution.
Conclusion of the day: zero detainees.
– I am concerned that the removal rate is low. But it is also the result that these are very difficult cases. Not infrequently, these murders are carried out in an organized way, where a perpetrator who is young and not as well known to the police is used and then weapons, cars and apartments are fixed.
Police technicians arrive in southern Märsta, where a 24-year-old man was killed at lunchtime on October 2. The man had just been released from jail when he was shot dead outside his home.
Photo: Jessica Gow / TT
That’s what Robert Karlsson, who is acting deputy regional police chief in Stockholm, says. In recent weeks, he and the rest of management have received daily reviews of the status of the investigation and the resources available for the record number of reconnaissance murders.
– If you arrive early and can make quick arrests, this is of course a bonus. But we have not published absolutely any of these cases, but we are working hard and have received reinforcements from both the Department of National Operations and other regions, continues Robert Karlsson.
The case he received from afar The biggest spotlight is the fatal shooting of a 12-year-old girl outside McDonald’s in Norsborg on the night of August 2. The perpetrators turned into a stolen car and opened fire on two suspected enemies. The victims survived unharmed while the girl, who was outside with her dog, was killed by one or more rotten bullets.
Flowers and candles at the site where a 12-year-old girl was shot and killed in Norsborg, early in the morning of August 2. No suspect has yet been arrested.
Photo: Alexander Mahmoud
Despite requests for information, the police have yet to make a breakthrough in finding the men in the car.
– We are about thirty working on the case. Otherwise, I don’t want to answer any questions, says investigation leader Lukas Molander.
Four out of eleven the reconnaissance killings are believed to have taken place in the context of a gang conflict in the Järva area. The alleged chain of events began on July 1 this year when a 21-year-old man from Husby was beaten to death at Nydalsparken in Tensta. After that, friends of the victim were believed to have been avenged for various attacks, including the shooting deaths of a 22-year-old in Rinkeby and a 21-year-old in Spånga in mid-August. The Tensta group, in turn, is believed to have gone to Husby and shot and killed a man in his twenties about a week later.
– I note that there have been several shootings with or without a fatal outcome after the murder in Tensta. But I don’t want to comment on how these could be connected, says chamber attorney Carl Mellberg, who leads three of the four murder investigations.
Rescue witnesses are common Explanation of the fact that investigations into crimes in a gang setting get bogged down, but if this also applies here, Carl Mellberg chooses not to comment.
– What I can say is that the police work very hard and of course I want to get to the prosecutions. The fact that there are still no detainees cannot be seen as anything but unsatisfactory.
A 22-year-old gang leader is found shot to death in Rinkeby on August 13. The unsolved murder is seen as part of a conflict between criminal groups in Järva.
Photo: Alexander Mahmoud
Five other men have been shot dead in Märsta, Vällingby, Skogås, Årsta and Lidingö since the turn of the year. The victims were between 18 and 29 years old and were known to the police for various types of crimes. There are no indications of connections between the cases.
– In my case, there are reasonable suspicions against a couple of young people. But while I awaited the technical investigation, I have chosen to release them, says court prosecutor Anders Tordai, head of the preliminary investigation in the Vällingby case.
The suspects were near the wooded area where the victim, an 18-year-old boy, was found shot in mid-July. What the men said in questioning, the prosecutor does not want to enter.
– But I will not process the current suspicions, says Anders Tordai and hopes that the National Forensic Center, NFC, has time to complete its investigation during the year.
Police technicians at the Lidingö site, where a 29-year-old was shot and killed in his car on the morning of August 24.
Photo: Anders WiklundTT
The murder spree during the third and fourth quarters means that the Stockholm region is beginning to approach previous record levels, in terms of shootings in a gang setting with a fatal outcome. So far this year, 16 people have been shot and killed, compared to 17 in 2019, 11 in 2018 and 19 in 2018. In addition, there are around 30 gunshot wounds in 2020, which is on par with several previous years.
– Stockholm has a fairly long period of high violence. So we are on a wave peak at the top level, says Robert Karlsson, acting regional deputy chief of police.
There are currently no suspects in custody for the gang-related killings that have occurred since July 1. Is it safe to murder in Stockholm today?
– Absolutely not. We convict murderers and people who commit assassination attempts. But it is clear that I would have liked the sale to be one hundred percent. He had sent very good signals.
A man in his 30s is found shot in Årstabron on September 17. The victim himself belonged to the criminal sphere.
Photo: Marko Säävälä / TT
Robert Karlsson would like to take the opportunity to point out that nonetheless, many other gang-related crimes are solved, such as drug-related felonies and firearm offenses.
– I would say that right now we are beginning to see the success of a long-term sustainable strategy. We take a lot of guns, drugs and money and recently we have arrested about ten criminal leaders. The paradox is that this can lead to an increase in the number of murders and assassination attempts when a vacuum arises and becomes a disaster in the environment.
Others lean quite a bit to the fact that what provoked the violence may be the fact that so many perpetrators appear to be free.
– The risk of retaliation definitely increases when the investigation is low because the criminals themselves choose, as it were, to punish themselves and protect themselves against the culprits. This is probably an important short-term explanation for the fact that fatal shootings have become so numerous, says criminologist Sven Granath, a service expert on lethal violence within the police in the Stockholm region.
NOTE. Since July 1, 2020, there have been at least five more murder cases in the Stockholm region, of which four involving female victims. In several of these investigations, which do not refer to organized crime, the alleged perpetrators are arrested.
Read more: Cengiz shot outside his workplace: “I was so thankful that I had a second chance at life”
Read more: The murder in Husby thirteenth fatal shooting this year
