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Crime in Sweden: a look at where the fatal shootings happen

New police statistics reveal which regions saw the most shootings in Sweden last year, and how this compares to previous years.

Published: 31 January 2019 08:19 CET

Crime in Sweden: a look at where the fatal shootings happen

A non-fatal shooting in Malmö in December last year. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

Malmö and its surrounding region saw the most deadly shootings in Sweden last year, with the city's ongoing gang war leaving 14 dead and 28 wounded, according to new police statistics published on Wednesday.

In their report, Swedish police said that most recent shootings appeared connected to battles over the narcotics trade, which has grown significantly, with the number of police narcotics cases doubling over the last decade.

“The police have a very good picture of which conflicts are occurring in different parts of the country and we are working hard at seizing people and bringing them before the courts,” said Mats Löfving, head of Noa, the Swedish police's national coordinating body.

“You can see that among other things in the fact that remand prisons, prisons and youth offenders' centre are pretty much all full.”

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The number of fatal shootings in the police's southern district, which includes Malmö, increased to 14 from ten in 2017, while the number of fatal shootings in the police's western region, which includes Gothenburg, increased from five to ten.

The number of fatal shootings in the Stockholm region fell from 19 to 11, but this was not enough to stop the number of 45 gun deaths over Sweden as a whole, compared to 43 in 2017.

The total number of shootings fell, however, with 306 in 2018 compared to 324 in 2017.

The number of fatal shootings in Sweden between 2006 and 2018. Image and statistics: TT/Police

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Malmö to bring in reinforcements from Norway and Denmark ahead of Eurovision

Authorities vowed “visible” measures including police with submachine guns and reinforcements from Denmark and Norway around the event, ending with the final on May 11th.

Normally associated with rhinestones and kitsch, this year the competition has become a more controversial affair as critics have called for Israel to be banned from competing, with the war in Gaza entering its seventh month.

Sweden’s third largest city, Malmö is home to over 360,000 inhabitants spanning 186 nationalities, and a large part of the country’s population is of Palestinian origin.

At least half a dozen applications have been filed for demonstration permits to protest the Israeli presence at the competition, which is organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) together with Sweden’s public broadcaster SVT.

City authorities say the situation is under control.

“For the various events linked to Eurovision, security measures will be clearly visible,” the city’s security director, Per-Erik Ebbestahl, told a press conference.

Security checks will be stepped up, in particular for access to the various sites, where bags will mostly be prohibited, he said.

The police presence will also be strengthened, with reinforcements coming from Norway and Denmark, and officers will be more heavily armed than normal.

“There will be a lot of police in Malmö this time, with their usual armament, but also with heavier weapons” including submachine guns, said Petra Stenkula, chief of Malmö police.

“We are not used to seeing them in Sweden and Malmö,” Stenkula said.

The executive producer of the event for SVT, Ebba Adielsson, told AFP the security plan was “extremely stable”.

“Now what scares me the most is that people are too afraid” to participate in the event, she continued.

More than 100,000 visitors are expected to come to Malmö in the week leading up to the event.

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