Three people have been killed in a shooting in the Swedish city of Uppsala, police have confirmed.
Sweden Firing
In a statement on Tuesday, police said they had received calls from members of the public who heard noises that sounded like gunshots being fired near Vaksala Square in the centre of the city, about 60km (37 miles) north of the capital Stockholm.
The shooting took place at a hair salon close to Vaksala Square in the centre of the city, local media reported. The shooter, who fled on a scooter, is still on the run, according to the reports.
Officers have cordoned off a large area and a murder investigation is under way.
The incident happened on the eve of the Walpurgis spring festival, which brings large crowds onto the streets of Uppsala, a city located north of the capital Stockholm, and known for its university.
“Everything happened so fast. It just went bang, bang, bang,” a witness told Swedish channel TV4.
Another man said he was cooking at home when he heard “two bangs that sounded a bit like fireworks” going off outside on the street.
He told Swedish television he was “very surprised and scared” and shortly after “swarms of police and ambulances” started blocking off the street and telling people to move back.
A major effort is under way to find the shooter, with a police helicopter joining in the search, police spokesman Magnus Jansson Klarin told TV4.
Train services had been stopped in the area to stop the perpetrator using them to get away, Mr Klarin said, but they have now resumed.
Meanwhile Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer told TV4 that a “brutal act of violence” had happened.
The identity of the victims and the shooter are still unclear. But there has been increasing concern over the number of shootings and gang attacks in recent years in Sweden, and the government has said it wants to tighten the country’s gun laws.
In February, 10 people were killed in a shooting at an adult education centre in the Swedish town of Orebro.
In 2023, Sweden had the highest rate of deadly gun violence per capita in the European Union, according to Reuters. In 2024, at least 40 people were shot dead in the country of only 10 million people – down from a peak of 63 people shot dead in 2022.
Although Sweden has high rates of gun ownership by EU standards, Swedes have to obtain a license before being allowed to own a weapon and the country places tight restrictions on eligibility.
Tuesday’s shooting comes just months after a gunman opened fire at an adult education center in the Swedish city of Örebro, in what the country’s prime minister called the “worst mass shooting in Swedish history.”
A total of ten victims were killed in the attack, which took place in February, and another six people were injured.
Emergency services were on the scene and a murder investigation has been launched, police added.
Sweden’s public television station SVT said the suspect had fled on a scooter.
Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer said his ministry was in close contact with police and was closely monitoring developments in the case.
“A brutal act of violence has occurred in central Uppsala … This is at the same time as the whole of Uppsala has begun Walpurgis Night,” Strommer said in a statement, referring to a traditional holiday celebrated on April 30 in northern Europe and Scandinavia.
Police also did not provide any details about the alleged perpetrator.
Al Jazeera’s Paul Rhys, reporting from Uppsala, said the residential neighbourhood was crowded due to the festivities when between five to eight shots were fired, according to witnesses.
The shooting happened at a hair salon, which may indicate a targeted killing, Rhys said.
The Nordic country has suffered from a wave of gang-related violence for more than a decade that has included an epidemic of gun violence.
A right-wing minority government came to power in 2022 on a promise to tackle gang-related violence.
In February, 10 people were killed in the city of Orebro in Sweden’s deadliest ever mass shooting, which saw a 35-year-old unemployed loner open fire on students and teachers at an adult education centre.
Uppsala is the fourth-largest city in Sweden with a population of about 230,000 people.
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