A man stabbed eight people on Wednesday in the Swedish city of Vetlanda, seriously injuring five in what the police called a potential terror incident.
The attacker was taken to hospital after being shot in the leg by the police when he was taken into custody after the mid-afternoon attack in the southern town of 13,000.
Speaking to AFP, the police said the man in his 20s used a “sharp weapon”, while local media reported he was brandishing a knife.
The police initially treated the incident as an “attempted murder”, but later changed it in a statement to include a “suspected terrorist crime”, without giving further details.
Three of the attackers were said to have suffered life-threatening injuries, while two others were in serious condition, according to information provided by the hospital in Jonkoping where they were being treated.
The remaining three suffered minor injuries.
Local resident Olivia Strandberg told SVT that she did not see the actual attack, but witnessed the man being taken away from her window as soon as she returned from work.
“I had just arrived at my apartment when my best friend wrote to me saying: Don’t leave!” Said Strandberg, with the station showing images of the suspect being taken in an ambulance on a quiet street.
Speaking at a news conference, regional police chief Malena Grann later clarified that a preliminary investigation was still under the designation “attempted murder”, but details emerged that meant they were also investigating “possible terrorist motives”.
“There are details in the investigation that led us to investigate whether there was a terrorist motive,” Grann said, without giving details.
Grann added that the police work closely with the Swedish intelligence service Sapo.
Karl Melin, Sapo’s press chief, declined to comment, however, telling SVT: “The event in Vetlanda is currently a police matter.”
– ‘Despicable Actions’ –
Local police chief Jonas Lindell told the media that they identified five different crime scenes, separated by a few hundred meters, in the small town.
Lindell said the suspect was a resident of the area and previously known to the police, but in the past he had only been suspected of “minor crimes”.
He declined to say whether the man was a Swedish citizen.
The extent of his injuries was also unknown, but police said they believed they could interrogate him.
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven condemned “horrific violence” in a statement posted on his Facebook page.
“We face these despicable actions with the combined strength of the community,” said Lofven.
“We are reminded of how fragile our safe existence is,” added Lofven, encouraging people to have victims in their thoughts, as well as health professionals and the police looking after the wounded and working to restore peace.
Swedish intelligence services consider the terrorist threat high.
The Scandinavian country has been the target of two attacks in recent years.
In December 2010, a man carried out a suicide bomb attack in central Stockholm. He died after lightly wounding passersby.
In April 2017, a rejected and radicalized Uzbek asylum seeker ran over pedestrians in Stockholm with a stolen truck, killing five people. He was sentenced to life in prison.
bur-jll / pvh / dw