UPDATE: Terror Attack in Sweden - Afghani Migrant Stabs Eight in Vetlanda (Video)

* This is a developing story and the text is continuously updated

Update: According to Swedish New Agency, Expressen the attacker is a 22-year-old Afghan citizen who has previously been convicted of drug offenses. The terrorist is said to have received regular visits from social services at home and has been suffering from “mental problems” for some time.

In virtually every instance of jihad attacks in Sweden, politicians & media hide the identity of the attackers. In rare instances when the identity of an attacked is leaked, the suspect is presented as possibly suffering from mental health issues.

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Swedish Police have shot and arrested a man in his 20’s after he attacked several people in the southern Swedish town of Vetlanda with a ax just before 3pm on Wednesday. Despite the man’s criminal record, the police stated that the attacks came as a “total surprise”.  Several victims are said to be seriously injured.

The stabbings occurred in five separate locations which have been cordoned off, all within a few hundred meters of each other.

Suspect Motives/Citizenship

The assailant’s motive remains “unclear”, however, police initially said they were treating the stabbings as a ‘suspected terrorist crime.’ Hours later, police announced they are investigating the attack as an “attempted murder with terrorist motives”.

Police have refused to answer media questions about the suspect’s citizenship. However, The Editor-in-Chief at Swedish news agency, Dagens Nyheter, is reporting the suspect was first registered in Sweden in 2018, and that he previously was convicted for a low-level drug offense.

According to the the suspect’s neighbor, he spoke very poor Swedish and no English. Another neighbor states that a woman used to regularly come to the man’s home to help him.

The attacker moved to Vetlanda from another place nearby just a year ago. During the evening, police searched the man’s ground floor apartment in a residential area in Vetlanda.

Suspect Shot

Swedish newsite, Samnytt, published a video of police shooting the suspect in Vetlanda. A police car with blue lights on can be seen in the clip as well as two police officers. The children filming shout “He has a gun!”. Then a shot is heard. The video was spread on Snapchat during the evening.

The attacker was shot in the leg by officers and has been taken to hospital where he is receiving treatment under armed guard. 

Political Response

Prime Minister Stefan Löfven condemned the attack as he sent his condolences to the victims and their families. (courtesy of Expressen): Translation by Fousesquawk.

This evening, I am thinking of those injured in Vetlanda and their relatives. I condemn this terrible act of violence.

We confront these heinous acts with the collective power of society.

Right now, it is unclear exactly what happened and what the motive was, but police describe it as a single perpetrator (who) attacked and seriously injured several persons in central Vetlanda. A suspected perpetrator has been arrested. Against the background of what has emerged thus far in the police investigation, the prosecutor has initiated a preliminary investigation into a terrorist crime.

Police authorities and Security Police have close cooperation in incidents like this.  They continuously judge whether there are reasons to take heightened security measures and are prepared to do this if needed.

Police authorities are now taking investigative and security-enhancing measures and have initiated a special incident (procedure) to better handle the incident. We have on-going contact with police authorities and Security Police and are following the events closely.

We are mindful of how fragile our safety is. I want to urge everyone to send a thought to those affected by violence and to the men and women in healthcare, police, and the municipalities who work to care for the injured and restore safety. 

Minister of the Interior Mikael Damberg calls today’s events in Vetlanda “terrible”.

Several people are seriously injured. These are terrible events and my thoughts go to the victims and their relatives. Right now it is unclear exactly what happened and what the motive was. The police have arrested a suspected perpetrator and have initiated a special incident to handle the development of the incident and create security in Vetlanda