Sweden: 2 Wounded in shopping center Shooting
Newslooks- STOCKHOLM (AP)
Swedish police say two people have been wounded in a shooting at a shopping center in the southern city of Malmo.
A suspected was arrested after the shooting Friday afternoon at the Emporia shopping center, which police said appeared to be gang-related.
“Police are on site with big resources to map the incident by interviewing witnesses and going through material from surveillance cameras. The immediate danger to the public appears to be over,” Malmo police said.
Swedish police have cordoned off part of the Emporia shopping centre in Malmo after racing to the scene at around 5pm local time. The police force said that shots have been fired in the area.
They add that emergency services are on scene with a “large amount of resources”.
Shootings by criminal gangs have become a growing problem in Sweden in recent decades, including in Malmo, the country’s third-biggest city. Gang violence is among the main campaign issues ahead of Sweden’s national election on Sept. 11.
According to Swedish paper Sydsvenskan, the arrested suspect is a 15 year old boy. They add the two injured are a man and woman. Their status remains unclear.
Expressen reported that people locked themselves in amid the chaos. One person told the outlet he and others hid in a warehouse. He said: “We were inside Kicks when people started running into the store. “The staff opened a back door so we had to hide in a storage room. “We sat in there, 16 people. Everyone was scared.” Another, who was outside the shopping centre when the shooting started, said: “It is the worst thing you can imagine”.
One witness posted on Twitter in Swedish: “Shooting at Emporia Mall. Full chaos outside. People in shock. People cry openly.” According to TV4 Nyheterna, witnesses have heard about 20 shots. One reporter on the scene said the shooter began firing randomly.
Police are asking anyone who saw the shooting or was present when it happened to provide statements, while urging others to stay away from the area.
Paramedics with a stretcher were seen racing past shoppers. A police spokesperson said: “Shots have been fired at the Emporia shopping centre in Malmo.
Last month a gunman opened fire inside a shopping mall across the Oresund Strait in the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Three people were killed and four wounded. Police said the suspect in that shooting, a 22-year-old Dane, apparently selected his victims at random.
