STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Police have raided an apartment in the southern Swedish town of Vetlanda believed to be the home of a man who stabbed and wounded seven people with a knife in a rampage, local media said on Thursday.
Investigators are considering a possible terrorism motive for the attack on Wednesday afternoon, police said.
All seven victims have been taken to hospital and three had life-threatening injuries.
A suspect, a man in his 20s, is also in hospital after police shot and arrested him.
The daily Dagens Nyheter and TV4 news channel reported that police later raided an apartment in Vetlanda believed to be the suspect’s home, carrying out evidence and speaking to neighbours.
The police have not identified the suspect but said he was known for minor crimes. The situation was quickly brought under control and there are no indications that anyone else was involved, police said.
Public broadcaster SVT said the suspect was a refugee from Afghanistan who arrived in Sweden in 2018. Police declined to comment on his nationality or identity.
“We are a community in shock,” Vetlanda mayor Henrik Tvarno told a news conference. “It’s a nightmare. This is incredibly tough for the relatives of the victims and for all of us.”
Tvarno did comment on the identity of the victims or the suspect, nor give further details on the attack.
In April 2017, a Uzbek migrant who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State militant group drove a truck into crowds of shoppers on a busy street in central Stockholm, killing five people before crashing into a department store. He was arrested and later sentenced to life in prison.
(Reporting by Johan Ahlander and Anna Ringstrom; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
