Twenty-three innocent bystanders have been killed and 30 wounded in gang-related shootings in Sweden over the past three years, according to new police data highlighting the country’s ongoing struggle with violent crime.
Authorities say the victims were not the intended targets but were instead caught in the crossfire, struck by stray bullets, mistaken for someone else, or linked to individuals involved in criminal networks.
The Nordic country has spent more than a decade trying to contain shootings tied to rival gangs competing over the drug trade and settling scores.
Alexander Wallenius, an operations coordinator at the national police, said the high number of unintended victims is partly due to the age and inexperience of many perpetrators. “We are dealing with very young perpetrators who, in many cases, have no previous experience of violent crime, which means a greater risk that third parties or the wrong target will be hit,” he said.
Police note that gangs frequently recruit teenagers through social media and encrypted messaging platforms, offering payment to carry out attacks. Many recruits are under 15—the age of criminal responsibility in Sweden—meaning they cannot be prosecuted and instead fall under social services, making them particularly attractive to criminal groups.
The government has proposed tougher measures, including forcing platforms to remove gang-related content quickly and lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 13 for crimes punishable by at least four years in prison.
