Sweden arrests second suspect over Stockholm attack

Police decline to detail detainee’s connection to truck-ramming by Uzbek national that killed 4 people

Illustrative: Police patrol near the scene of a terror attack in central Stockholm, Sweden, April 8, 2017. (Anders Wiklund/TT via AP)
Illustrative: Police patrol near the scene of a terror attack in central Stockholm, Sweden, April 8, 2017. (Anders Wiklund/TT via AP)

STOCKHOLM — Sweden arrested a second suspect over the deadly Stockholm truck attack, prosecutors said Monday.

Four people were killed, including two Swedes, one Briton and one Belgian, when a truck mowed down pedestrians on a busy shopping street in central Stockholm on April 7.

Rakhmat Akilov, a 39-year-old Uzbek national, confessed to driving the stolen truck and is being held in custody but investigators are still searching for possible accomplices.

The second unnamed suspect was arrested on Sunday, the prosecution authority said in a statement, adding: “No more information can be given at the moment.”

A view of the scene after a truck crashed into a department store injuring several people in central Stockholm, Sweden, Friday April 7, 2017. (Fredrik Sandberg/TT News Agency via AP)
A view of the scene after a truck crashed into a department store injuring several people in central Stockholm, Sweden, Friday April 7, 2017. (Fredrik Sandberg/TT News Agency via AP)

The prosecution has until Wednesday to decide whether the suspect should be formally remanded in custody.

Police said they had jointly carried out the arrest with the Swedish Security Service “after a large amount of preliminary investigations had been processed.”

No terror group has claimed responsibility for the rampage, which resembled vehicle attacks in Nice, Berlin and London.

An artist's impression made and released on April 11, 2017 shows Uzbek national Rakhmat Akilov (C) together with his defense counsels during his remand hearing in the Stockholm District Court.(AFP Photo/TT News Agency/Johan Hallnas)
An artist’s impression made and released on April 11, 2017 shows Uzbek national Rakhmat Akilov (C) together with his defense counsels during his remand hearing in the Stockholm District Court.(AFP Photo/TT News Agency/Johan Hallnas)

Construction worker Akilov is a father of four who was refused permanent residency in Sweden in June 2016. He went underground last year after receiving a deportation order, police said.

He is known to have sympathies for jihadist groups, including the Islamic State.

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