4 Injured in Sweden in Incident Classed as Attempted Murder

4 Injured in Sweden in Incident Classed as Attempted Murder
Special unit police forces are seen by a car near Eskilstuna in Sweden on July 21, 2021. (Karlsson Per/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)
The Associated Press
6/1/2023
Updated:
6/1/2023

STOCKHOLM—Four teenagers were injured in an incident Thursday in the town of Eskilstuna, west of Stockholm, police said, adding it was unclear what had happened but “several people were involved in a fight that resulted in personal injuries.”

Those injured were four boys aged 15, police said in a statement. The case is being classified as attempted murder, but police said they had no information on how serious the injuries were. Two young men have been detained and more people can expected to be nabbed, they added.

A large deployment of police was involved in an action near the Munktellarena sports facility in Eskilstuna, some 90 kilometers (56 miles) west of Stockholm, police said. The injured were taken to a nearby hospital.

Swedish broadcaster TV4 said school students were injured in a stabbing and two groups of youths got into a fight. Swedish media say there are several schools nearby.

Sweden, a nation of 10 million, has in recent decades seen an increase in violence, chiefly shootings but also stabbing, by criminal gangs.

In 2022, there were 391 shootings in Sweden of which 62 were fatal, a record. So far this year, Swedish police have recorded 131 shootings, most in the Stockholm area, of which 15 were fatal.