STOCKHOLM—Three men were shot to death and three more injured in an unusually violent incident in Sweden’s third-largest city, Malmo.
The shooting took place outside an internet cafe on June 18, in the middle of a busy street downtown, according to local media reports.
The three men who were killed were gang members involved in serious crime, Malmo police chief Stefan Sinteus said at a press conference.
Despite a general fall in crime, gun violence and violent sex crimes like gang rapes are on the rise, becoming a major issue in the upcoming general election.
The current Green-Left government has been widely criticized over its reorganization of the police force, recruitment problems, and a shortage of police officers.
Meanwhile the nationalist/conservative Sweden Democrat party links rising gang crime to migration and problems with integration—another big election issue.
Criminologist Mikael Rying told Swedish public service television SVT that he views June 18’s shooting as one of the worst gang-related shootings in Sweden in 30 years.
One witness told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that he heard some 15 to 20 shots fired.
