Sweden arrests man for ‘terrorist crime’ after truck attack

Suspect in Stockholm attack that killed 4 is an Islamic State supporter, 39, of Uzbek origin

By AFP 8 April 2017, 6:43 am

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Emergency personnel load a person into an ambulance, center, at 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)

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Sweden early Saturday arrested a man for a “terrorist crime,” prosecutors said, hours after a beer truck ploughed into a crowd outside a busy department store in central Stockholm, killing four.

The man was arrested “on suspicion of a terrorist crime through murder,” Karin Rosander, a communications director at the Swedish Prosecution Authority, told AFP.

Police said earlier on Friday after the attack that they had detained the man who “matched the description” of a photo released of a suspect wearing a dark hoodie and military green jacket.

But they did not confirm if he drove the truck.

According to the Aftonbladet newspaper, the same man is a 39-year-old of Uzbek origin and a supporter of the Islamic State (IS) group.

The rear of a truck, left, protrudes after it crashed into a department store killing several people in central Stockholm, Sweden, Friday April 7, 2017. (Anders Wiklund , TT News Agency via AP)

If confirmed as a terror attack, it would be Sweden’s first such deadly assault. Fifteen people, including children, were also injured, nine seriously, health authorities said.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said he had strengthened the country’s border controls.

“Terrorists want us to be afraid, want us to change our behavior, want us to not live our lives normally, but that is what we’re going to do. So terrorists can never defeat Sweden, never,” he said.

Friday’s attack was the latest in a string of similar assaults with vehicles in Europe, including in London, Berlin and the southern French city of Nice.

The deadliest came last year in France on the July 14 Bastille Day national holiday, when a man rammed a truck into a crowd in the Mediterranean resort of Nice, killing 86 people.