Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

Four suspects detained after two shootings in Karlstad

Four people have been detained on suspicion of complicity in attempted murder, in connection with two shootings in Karlstad over recent days.

Published: 1 August 2019 08:45 CEST
Four suspects detained after two shootings in Karlstad
Police said they suspected the motive was gang-related. File photo: Janerik Henriksson / TT

On Monday evening, a man was injured by a shot fired through a window in a residential building in the suburb of Kronoparken, east of the centre.

The following night, a second shooting took place in similar circumstances, with multiple shots fired into an apartment which had several people inside. One person was taken to hospital for treatment for gunshot wounds.

A police spokesperson said they were unsure of the extent of the victims' injuries.

Police detained one person suspected of involvement with the shootings on Tuesday and three more on Wednesday evening, as the local newspaper Värmlands Folkblad was first to report.

Local police said they were looking into any possible connection between the two crimes given the similarities, and that they suspected the motive was gang-related.

“We are convinced that this an arrangement within criminal circles. In such cases, it tends to be linked to drugs, weapons and smuggling operations,” police press spokesperson Tommy Lindh told TT.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

CRIME

Nordic justice ministers meet tech giants on gangs using apps to hire ‘child soldiers’

The justice ministers of Denmark, Sweden and Norway are to meet representatives of the tech giants Google, Meta, Snapchat and TikTok, to discuss how to stop their platforms being used by gang criminals in the region.

Published: 20 September 2024 10:31 CEST
Nordic justice ministers meet tech giants on gangs using apps to hire 'child soldiers'

Denmark’s justice minister, Peter Hummelgaard, said in a press release that he hoped to use the meeting on Friday afternoon to discuss how to stop social media and messaging apps being used by gang criminals, who Danish police revealed earlier this year were using them to recruit so-called “child soldiers” to carry out gang killings.  

“We have seen many examples of how the gangs are using social media and encrypted messaging services to plan serious crimes and recruit very young people to do their dirty work,” Hummelgaard said. “My Nordic colleagues and I agree that a common front is needed to get a grip on this problem.”

As well as recruitment, lists have been found spreading on social media detailing the payments on offer for various criminal services.   

Hummelgaard said he would “insist that the tech giants live up to their responsibilities so that their platforms do not act as hotbeds for serious crimes” at the meeting, which will take place at a summit of Nordic justice ministers in Uppsala, Sweden.

In August, Hummelgaard held a meeting in Copenhagen with Sweden’s justice minister, Gunnar Strömmer, at which the two agreed to work harder to tackle cross-border organised crime, which has seen a series of Swedish youth arrested in Denmark after being recruited to carry out hits in the country. 

According to a press release from the Swedish justice ministry, the morning will be spent discussing how to combat the criminal economy and particularly organised crime in ports, with a press release from Finland’s justice ministry adding that the discussion would also touch on the “undue influence on judicial authorities” from organised crime groups. 

The day will end with a round table discussion with Ronald S Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, on how anti-Semitism and hate crimes against Jews can be prevented and fought in the Nordic region. 

SHOW COMMENTS