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CRIME

Victims in Malmö school attack were targeted at random, court hears

The 18-year-old student at Malmö Latin who has admitted to killing two female teachers at the school told a court on Tuesday that he attacked at random.

Victims in Malmö school attack were targeted at random, court hears
Flowers and a sign reading "Teachers are the most important" outside Malmö Latin School following the attack in March where two teachers were killed. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

“I was going to do everything at random,” said the attacker, who has not been named.

“The idea was to just attack the first person I saw. Of course, there were certain people I was hoping not to meet,” he told the court.

The 18-year-old has admitted to attacking and killing two teachers at Malmö Latin school on March 21st.

The attacker said he first began thinking about carrying out an attack the day before, on March 20th.

He told the court he had previously considered taking his own life but that a setback in his bid to get a driving licence pushed him to take action.

After he found out he couldn’t take his driving test the next year he locked himself in his bedroom in Trelleborg on the south coast of Sweden.

“That’s when I decided I can’t go on living like this. I’ve wanted to kill myself for a long time. I decided I need to put myself in a situation where there’s no turning back,” he told the court.

That evening he took the decision to carry out a random attack at his school the next day, the student said. He recorded three “farewell” videos that he later deleted.

Attacked ‘at random’

At the end of the school day, the attacker locked himself in a toilet cubicle.

He changed clothes and took weapons – an axe, knives and a hammer – out of his backpack.

He put on a mask, scarf and ear protectors, which he explained were used so he wouldn’t be able to see and hear his victims so clearly.

When a person in the next cubicle came out, the 18-year-old attacked.

“I was hoping it wouldn’t be someone I knew,” he said. “I saw it was my old maths teacher, I stopped, short-circuited.”

The teacher only managed to say “you gave me a fright!” before he inflicted the fatal blows.

He then chased another teacher who witnessed the violence down the corridor and attacked her. She later died of her injuries.

‘I wanted to show that I am a monster’

The attacker then locked himself in the bathroom and called the police before handing himself in.

When the prosecutor asked why he hadn’t sought psychological help he said: “I didn’t think it would help, I don’t deserve to talk to someone. Asking for help was out of the question.”

“I wanted to show that I am a monster,” he said.

The court hearing in Malmö will continue throughout the week.

As the minor mental examination already carried out on the 18-year-old has concluded that he may be suspected of having a serious mental disorder, his lawyer Anders Elison expects that his client will undergo a major forensic psychiatric examination before being sentenced.

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CRIME

Illegal Swedish strawberry sales raise billions of kronor for organised crime

Swedish police have carried out raids on strawberry vendors suspected of being linked to gang crime.

Illegal Swedish strawberry sales raise billions of kronor for organised crime

Police told Dagens Nyheter that the raids were connected to one of Sweden’s most wanted gang leaders, Ismail Abdo, nicknamed Jordgubben (“The Strawberry”).

In a statement police said they had “hit a central violent actor by targeting individuals around this person and their business structures”.

Raids were carried out in Bergslagen, as well as the Mitt and Stockholm police regions.

It’s suspected that these sellers had been marketing Belgian strawberries as Swedish and using the revenue to fund serious organised crime. Police also found children under the legal working age and migrants without legal residency permits working at the stalls.

Police believe that illegal strawberry sales turn over billions of kronor every year.

“We’ve carried out multiple actions together with other authorities,” Per Lundbäck, from the Bergslagen policing region, told Swedish news agency TT. “By cutting off the finances off this type of organised crime, we can weaken gangs’ financing and their ability to carry out crimes.”

To avoid buying strawberries linked to crime, Lundbäck recommends paying attention to the company you buy your strawberries from.

“The first thing you can do is look at the number the (mobile phone payment app) Swish payment goes to, to make sure it’s a company number starting with 123, and not a private number,” he said.

Most companies will have their Swish number displayed somewhere on the stand, so you should be able to check this even if you don’t have the app and are paying with card, for example.

He also added that you can pay attention to the age of the person selling the strawberries, describing very young sellers as a “red flag”.

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