So far this year, 46 people have been killed and 109 injured in a total of 330 shooting episodes in Sweden. In most cases, it is a matter of re-settlement – between young men.
No matter how gloomy the statistics look for the year that is soon over, it is thus a fairly typical year when it comes to the weapons problem in Sweden.
The figures for 2021 are very close to the average for the number of shootings and the number of killed per year in the last four years: 325 shootings and 44.25 homicides.
– That it is so even is remarkable, but the extent is typical of this type of crime at the national level in the last five years, says criminologist Sven Granath at the Stockholm police.
Granath confirms that the violence has in a way become predictable – at the national level.
– The statistics for the whole country as a whole are quite similar. It is more unpredictable at the local level. It can fluctuate a lot, he says.
– But it is really strange that the death toll in total remains so stable year after year, he admits.
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Same periods
Even the periods of the year for most events are the same. Most events take place from the summer until around October. Most of the shootings took place in August, when 43 incidents were recorded. October followed with 40 incidents.
The cause of the shooting episodes is also more or less the same.
– It is above all settlement in criminal environments where young men try to create a criminal career, Granath says.
Every other weapon kill happens here
Stockholm is now overrepresented when it comes to gun violence. Half of all gun killings so far this year have taken place in the Stockholm region. But Granath says this is primarily due to the fact that the development has come later to Stockholm than to Malmö and Gothenburg.
The figures for the period 1 January to 15 December show 330 shooting episodes throughout the country, 134 in the Stockholm region. Of the 44 dead after these incidents, 23 are in Stockholm, the numbers speak for themselves, reports Swedens radio via the news agency TT.
– First it was Malmö, then Gothenburg and now Stockholm. But the development of violence in Stockholm is probably also due to the fact that it is the largest region. It thus takes longer before the police work takes effect – it is slower, says Granath.
He sees tendencies for gun violence to increase in other regions as well.
– The development spreads all over the country, but at the same time it can decrease in areas that have had a lot of gun violence for a period, Granath says.
Same next year?
He is not very optimistic about the development for next year and fears that you will get about the same number of shooting episodes, killed and injured.
– I think we will probably get about the same situation, but with local variants. It may be that development is slowed down in Stockholm, but that there is an increase elsewhere.
According to a survey conducted by SVT Most shootings take place in places where there is public traffic, which means that random passers-by become eyewitnesses and risk being hit by the brutal violence.
Among those who have experienced the violence up close are Rune and Elsie Persson. In July this year, three shots were fired into their apartment in Malmö. Elsie Persson fainted and had to spend three days in hospital. According to police, the shots were intended for a neighbor. After 46 years in the area, the older couple is considering moving.
In the neighboring country
Recently, gang criminals from Sweden have also been linked to shooting episodes in Denmark. A 17-year-old was killed in a hairdressing salon in Rødovre outside Copenhagen at the beginning of December. The next day, a 39-year-old man was seriously injured by gunfire in a hookah café in Copenhagen.
The week before, a man in his mid-20s had been killed at Nørrebrogade in Copenhagen.
Gang crime has gradually become a hot political topic in Sweden. The opposition has harshly criticized the red-green government for not doing enough, but according to researchers, the situation has developed over many years and is not least due to lack of integration policy and exclusion.
Bred front
When Sweden’s new Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson took office at the end of November, she promised to take up the fight against violence and crime on a broad front.
– The gross violence is a poison that threatens our entire community, she said.
Andersson does not just want to sharpen the penalties and give more money to the police. She believes all sectors have a job to do.
“Every minister in the government who joins today will be tasked with turning every stone to stop gang crime and fight segregation within his area of responsibility and with the support of affected authorities,” Andersson said in his government statement.
(©NTB)
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