Swedish car-rammer 'drove into children' during Stockholm murder rampage
Swedish car-rammer 'drove into children' during Stockholm murder rampage
Swedish police have arrested a man accused of driving a beer truck into central Stockholm's packed streets with witnesses saying the murderer deliberately targeted children during the killings.
2 min read
An Islamic State group sympathiser "deliberately" targeted children during a car-ramming rampage in the centre of Sweden's capital on Friday, Swedish media have reported, which left four people dead.
The attacker "zig-zagged" through the crowds targeting children and other pedestrians, witnesses said, with a pram crushed under the weight of the hijacked beer truck which hurtled down a busy commercial street.
"It swerved from side-to-side. It didn't look out of control, it was trying to hit people," one witness told Reuters. "It hit people, it was terrible. It hit a pram with a kid in it, demolished it."
Fifeteen others were injured with nine are still being treated in hospital. Some of the wounded include children.
Police say they have arrested a 39-year-old suspect who is "likely" the man who carried out the attack.
He is reported to be an Uzbek father of four and has displayed sympathy for IS and al-Qaeda on social media.
Both groups have endorsed such car-ramming as possible tactics for sympathisers to spread fear in Western cities.
"Yes, it is correct, it is likely him," police spokesman Lars Bystrom told AP.
He was arrested at Marsta railway station and is said to have posted a number of videos in support of Islamic State group on his Facebook page.
The attacker "zig-zagged" through the crowds targeting children and other pedestrians, witnesses said, with a pram crushed under the weight of the hijacked beer truck which hurtled down a busy commercial street.
"It swerved from side-to-side. It didn't look out of control, it was trying to hit people," one witness told Reuters. "It hit people, it was terrible. It hit a pram with a kid in it, demolished it."
Fifeteen others were injured with nine are still being treated in hospital. Some of the wounded include children.
Police say they have arrested a 39-year-old suspect who is "likely" the man who carried out the attack.
He is reported to be an Uzbek father of four and has displayed sympathy for IS and al-Qaeda on social media.
Both groups have endorsed such car-ramming as possible tactics for sympathisers to spread fear in Western cities.
"Yes, it is correct, it is likely him," police spokesman Lars Bystrom told AP.
He was arrested at Marsta railway station and is said to have posted a number of videos in support of Islamic State group on his Facebook page.
The attacker drove the stolen truck into crowds before it crashed into the front window of the Ahlens department store at around 3pm local time.
Photos released by police showed a hooded man escaping the scene.
It was almost immediately treated as a "terrorist attack" following to an announcement by the Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven launching police into a city-wide sweep for the suspected driver.
It follows a number of car-ramming incidents in Europe, including one in London last month.
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— Johnny Chadda (@johnnychadda) April 7, 2017
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