Sweden Hit by ‘Unprecedented’ Levels of Gang Violence

Gang wars have brought an “unprecedented” wave of violence to Sweden, the national police chief has said, after a week of fatal shootings.

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“There have recently been after on an unprecedented scale,” police chief Anders Thornberg told a press conference on Wednesday. “Several boys aged between 13 and 15 have been killed, the mother of a criminal was executed at home, and a young man in Uppsala was shot dead on his way to work,” he added.

The police chief said the perpetrators were often from abroad, but did not mention any nationalities.

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The conflicts between the criminal gangs are costing innocent lives, said Thornberg. “Citizens are afraid, insecurity is increasing. And this at a time when we have raised our terrorist alert level in the country.”

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