Israeli arms maker said to be target of shooting in Sweden’s Gothenburg
No injuries reported after gunshots heard near local unit of Elbit Defense Systems; suspect, reportedly a young teen, detained amid police probe of attempted murder, weapons crime
An office of Israeli military technology firm Elbit Systems in Gothenburg was the target of a shooting Thursday, according to media, with Swedish police saying there were no injuries, in the latest in a series of attacks on Israeli targets in Scandinavia in recent weeks.
Police told AFP that they had responded to a shooting “against an Israeli object in Kalleback” in Gothenburg, a coastal city in southwestern Sweden.
They added that no injuries had been reported and that a young suspect had been arrested. Newspaper Aftonbladet said the suspect was under the age of 15.
An investigation has been opened into “attempted murder” and an “aggravated weapons crime,” police spokesman Fredrik Svedemyr said.
Svedemyr said police had sent several patrols and a helicopter to the scene. Elbit Systems said in an email to AFP that it “currently had no comment.”
In early June, police said they had found a “suspected explosive object” outside the offices of the military technology firm, known for its unmanned aerial systems.
Throughout the Gaza war, pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protesters have assailed the firm. On Tuesday, protesters splashed red paint on the London offices of German financial firm Allianz over its ties to Elbit. The protesters described Allianz as “investors and insurers of Israel’s biggest weapons firm.”
The reported shooting at Elbit’s Swedish office comes after an alleged shooting near Israel’s embassy in Stockholm on October 1, followed hours later by the detonation of two hand grenades near the embassy in Denmark, for which Danish police detained three Swedish nationals.
Swedish intelligence named Iran as a possible culprit in both attacks, neither of which resulted in any known injuries.
Another blast, which also did not cause any known injuries, was heard near the Copenhagen embassy on Monday, exactly one year after thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
The war has seen a sharp uptick in attacks on Scandinavia’s 25,000-strong Jewish community. The increased threat to Jewish and Israeli targets led police in neighboring Norway on Tuesday to up their terrorism threat assessment to the second-highest level.