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CRIME

Murder probe explores World of Warcraft ties

Prosecutors are looking into what role the popular online adventure game World of Warcraft may have played in the weekend death of a woman in a Stockholm suburb.

Murder probe explores World of Warcraft ties

Police discovered the body of Erika Eriksson on Sunday morning in an apartment located in Spånga west of Stockholm.

A 33-year-old man from Sandviken in eastern Sweden who was in the apartment when police arrived has been detained on suspicions of murder.

The night before, Eriksson, a native of Arvika in central Sweden, had been celebrating her 28th birthday with friends.

She had moved into the sublet apartment a week earlier in order to look for work in the Stockholm area.

Most of the friends celebrating with Eriksson last Saturday night knew each other through their common interest in World of Warcraft.

“We understand that several of those who were there had the World of Warcraft computer game as a common interest,” prosecutor Christina Voigt told the Nya Wermlands-Tidningen (NWT) newspaper.

Speaking with the Metro newspaper, Voigt added that the game and how it may have figured in the killing is now an important part of the investigation.

“We know there are connections and it’s something we’re looking into,” she told Metro.

Police confirm that the suspect and the victim were acquainted, but refuse to elaborate on the duration or nature of the relationship or on the cause of death.

“They knew each other, but we’re not going to get into how or why she was killed,” said police spokesperson Mats Eriksson to Metro.

But an acquaintance of Eriksson confirmed for NWT that she and the 33-year-old knew one another and that they met recently as a result of playing World of Warcraft.

Initial reports indicated Eriksson had been strangled, but police refuse to confirm the exact cause of death, the Arbetarbladet newspaper reports.

The suspect is set to be interrogated further on Tuesday, at which time prosecutors will decide whether to seek a remand order against him.

CRIME

Three injured in suspected knife attack in central Sweden

At least three people have been injured in a suspected knife attack which took place in broad daylight in the centre of Västerås in central Sweden on Friday afternoon.

Three injured in suspected knife attack in central Sweden

Police were called to the scene at shortly before 1.30pm on Friday after several women who Swedish police described as “elderly” were found injured with stab wounds. 

The man suspected of attacking the three women, who is reportedly in his late 20s, was later shot by police. According to Region Västmanland he is “seriously injured”.

“They have been injured with a sharp object but whether it is a knife or something else, we do not know right now,” Tobias Ahlén-Svalbro, a spokesperson from the local police told Sweden’s public broadcaster SVT. 

The three women have been taken to hospital, with one, in her 70s, described as having serious injuries. The others’ injuries are less severe.

“We are investigating two crime scenes,” Ahlén-Svalbro said. “As far as I understand the situation, two of them were injured in one area and the other somewhere else, but both areas are in central Västerås.”

The police have opened an investigation into aggravated assault, he added.

“We have already received several witness statements and would like to hear from any other witnesses who have seen or heard something.”

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