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Man held over knife attack on Jewish woman in Sweden

A man suspected of stabbing a Jewish woman in the Swedish city of Helsingborg has been caught in Denmark. Swedish police do not currently believe the attack was linked to anti-Semitic motives.

Man held over knife attack on Jewish woman in Sweden
Police stationed officers outside the Jewish centre in Helsingborg, but no longer suspect the attack was a hate crime. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

The woman, who is around 60 years old, was attacked on the street on Tuesday morning and taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. On Wednesday her condition was described as serious but stable.

Police stepped up security at the Jewish centre in Helsingborg due to the woman's role as an active member of the city's Jewish congregation, and investigated possible anti-Semitic motives.

The suspect fled the scene after the attack, but after police had tracked him down and it emerged he was previously known to Swedish authorities, officers said nothing indicated it was a hate crime.

“We're not talking about a hate crime at the moment, just about attempted murder,” local police chief Sven Holgersson told Swedish broadcaster SVT, which reported it appears the suspect lacked a real motive for the attack. The man and the woman did not previously know each other.

“Based on the way things are looking right now, it's an isolated incident,” said Holgersson.

The man, who is aged around 30, was seized by Danish police at around 3am on Wednesday and was expected to be brought to Sweden for questioning.

READ ALSO: Breaking down Sweden's anti-Semitism problem

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CRIME

IN NUMBERS: Has Sweden’s wave of deadly gang violence peaked?

The number of deadly shootings in Sweden has fallen after hitting a record in 2022, according to the latest annual statistics from the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå). But violent killings continued to rise and more women and youths were victims.

IN NUMBERS: Has Sweden's wave of deadly gang violence peaked?

How bad was 2023 for violent homicide in general? 

With 121 violent homicides recorded, 2023 was the worst year for murder in Sweden since 2020, when 124 people were killed in violent attacks, continuing a rising trend seen since 2021. The number of violent killings was up 4 percent on 2022, when 116 people were killed. 

It’s worth pointing out, however, that this is still lower than the 129 people who died of “murder, manslaughter or violent attack” in Sweden back in 1989,  when the population was nearly 20 percent lower. 

The graph below shows how the number of violent homicides in Sweden rose sharply in about 2014, after which it has seen a gradual but unsteady increase.  

Homicides in Sweden between 2013 and 2023. Source: Brå
 
What about deadly shootings?
 
When it comes to the gang shootings that have dominated headlines in Sweden in recent years, there were signs of improvement, with 53 people shot dead in 2023, down from a record 63 in 2022.  
 
It’s hardly great news though, as 2023 still witnessed the second highest number of deadly shootings ever recorded in Sweden. 
 
The number of fatal stabbings also increased slightly in 2023 to 41 from 35 in 2022. 

 

Deadly shootings, stabbings and other forms of violent murder between 2013 and 2023. Source: Brå
 
Tragically, in 2023, gang criminals in Sweden increasingly began to target the relatives and loved ones of their rivals and also to use minors in their gang wars, leading to a spike in the number of women and youths killed. 
 
Ten more women and nine more people under the age of 18 died in violent attacks in 2023 than in 2022, pushing the number of female victims to 33 and the number of youth victims to 17. 
 
“This year more minors and women have been homicide victims compared with the year before,” Jan Lundbeck, a statistician at the council said in a press release. “This is partly a result of conflicts in criminal circles which had had deadly consequences in which people under the ae of 18 and even women have been affected.” 

Ten of the 33 women killed were in a relationship with their killer, the same number as in 2022. 

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