Following its 48th deadly shooting which took place days ago, Sweden, once considered the most peaceful society in Europe, has registered more deadly incidents involving firearms in the first nine months of 2022 than were recorded during the whole of 2020, a year which previously held the record for the most people shot dead.
The unsettling news follows a study released last year by the Swedish Crime Prevention Council, Brå, which revealed that not only does Sweden have the highest level of deadly shootings in Europe, but also that it is the only country among Europe’s 22 countries that is presently witnessing an upward trend in fatal shootings, the national state-funded broadcaster Sveriges Radio reports.
In the wake of the fatal shooting last week in Kristianstad, Skåne which brought this year’s total to 48, Sweden’s police chief Anders Thornberg, during comments given to Sweden’s national news agency TT Nyhetsbyrån, said: “It looks like we’re going to break the record this year. That means—if it continues at the same rate—there will be around 60 deadly shootings.”
So far this year, Sweden also appears to be witnessing an increase in the number of total shootings in 2022, recording 273 as of September 1st, compared to 344 and 279 that were registered during the entirety of 2021 and 2020, respectively. If gun violence continues at its current rate for the rest of the year, it’s probable that the total number will exceed those recorded in 2021 and 2020.
Regarding the demographic profile of shooters, statistics from 2021 revealed that the average age of suspects involved in fatal shootings is 23 years old, while 85% of suspects were either born outside of Sweden or have a migration background.
The statistics cited by the French newspaper La Croix affirm statements made by Gothenburg police chief Erik Nord, who in the summer of 2021, publicly acknowledged that the rise in deadly gun violence was inextricably connected to mass migration Sweden has seen in the past several decades.
In an editorial written for Goteborgs Posten, Nord wrote:
It is no longer a secret today that much of the problem of gang and network crime with the shootings and explosions have been linked to migration to Sweden in recent decades. When, like me, you have the opportunity to follow matters at the individual level, you see that virtually everyone who shoots or is shot in gang conflicts originates from the Balkans, the Middle East, North or East Africa.
