Young men were getting a haircut ahead of a festival - then they were shot dead
Ahead of Sweden's Walpurgis festival to mark the start of spring, young people were busy selecting outfits or getting their hair done. Not all of them made it there alive.
At a hair salon in Uppsala, a city north of Stockholm, three young men who police say were aged between 15 and 20 were shot dead on Tuesday before the celebrations started.
The horror left many shaken in the build-up to the festival, known as Valborg in Swedish, which is typically a convivial affair each 30 April on the eve of the Christian feast day of Saint Walpurga. Celebrated nationwide, Uppsala hosts the country's largest and most high-profile Walpurgis events, popular with students.
The partying did go ahead in full swing, but a subtle heaviness hung over the Swedish blue and yellow flags which fluttered around the city.
And now, with the festival finished, it's only police tape - not flags - fluttering outside the basement barber shop where the shooting took place close to Vaksala Square.
"It's really sad," says 20-year-old student Yamen Alchoum, who is in the area to eat at a nearby food truck. He says he was at another barber shop on the night of the shootings, but previously had his hair cut at this salon multiple times. "I think if I was there [on Tuesday]…I would be, like, involved in the shooting. And it's a bit scary."
According to witnesses speaking to Swedish media TV4 and Aftonbladet, two of the young victims were dressed in barber capes and sat in parlour chairs when they were shot in the head just after 5pm on Tuesday.
The city centre was busy at the time as commuters made their way to the nearby train station and students from the city's prestigious university cycled back to their flats.
Witnesses reported hearing loud bangs which many mistook for fireworks. Minutes later several police cars and an ambulance arrived, blocking the street and forcing a bus to turn around. Helicopters and drones were dispatched to try and track down the suspect. Local media reported that he had worn a mask and used an electric scooter to get away from the scene.
"I heard the helicopters, so then I knew that something had happened," says Sara, a 32-year-old who lives on the street. She says her phone quickly lit up with news notifications and texts from friends asking if she was okay.
Around two hours after the shootings, police arrested a 16-year-old boy. In Sweden, suspects can be held based on different levels of suspicion, and the teenager was initially held at the second-highest level, indicating strong suspicion.
However, by Friday, prosecutors said the case against him had weakened and he was released.
On Saturday, Swedish police confirmed that six people have now been arrested in connection with the case. The suspects range in age from under 18 to 45, according to the state prosecutor's office, and one is suspected of carrying out the killings.
People intending to visit Uppsala for the Walpurgis festival were advised not to change their plans, as police promised extra resources on the cathedral city's streets and suggested the shooting was likely an "isolated incident".
While many were shaken, tens of thousands of Swedes still heeded their advice, packing the banks of Uppsala's Fyris river to watch the annual student raft race, drinking in the city's pubs and parks or heading to a huge public bonfire in the evening. Others joined the annual spring ceremony outside the university where current and former students gathered to wave white caps.
"I don't really feel so scared," says Alvin Rose, 19, a social studies student, having a snack in Vaksala Square, just around the corner from where the shootings happened. "It feels like there's more security, more cops about."
His friend Kassandra Fritz, an 18-year-old natural sciences student, says she has driven to Uppsala from her home in Gävle, two hours north, to "have fun and meet new people".
She reflects that she no longer has a "strong" reaction to news about shootings in Sweden since they are frequently in the headlines. "There's been so many shootings lately, not only here in Uppsala but like, everywhere in Sweden."
Over the past decade, Sweden has emerged as a European hotspot for gun crime, often linked to criminal networks. Research for Sweden's National Council for Crime Prevention released last year concluded that the profile of perpetrators is "increasingly younger", with growing numbers of teenagers both carrying out or dying from gun violence.
Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was on a work trip to Valencia when the Uppsala shooting took place, but has since described it as "an extremely violent act".
"This underlines that the wave of violence is not over - it continues," he said in an interview with Swedish news agency TT on Wednesday.
At a news conference the day after, officers said they were investigating the possibility that the deaths were linked to gang crime, but said it was too soon to confirm this.
Police in various Swedish cities have previously said it is becoming more common for gangs to contract vulnerable children to carry out crimes, because those who are 15 or younger are below the age of criminal responsibility in Sweden.
Sweden's government recently proposed controversial new legislation that would allow police to wiretap children, in an attempt to prevent them from being recruited to teenage gangs.
Ministers have also said they want to tighten the country's gun laws.
In February, 10 people were killed in the country's worst mass shooting at an adult education centre in the Swedish town of Orebro. In this case, police suspect a 35-year-old was behind the killings. He legally owned a weapon, and was found dead inside the building.
Outside the hair salon in Uppsala, 20-year-old Yamen says he has never been involved in gang crime but knows plenty of others who have.
"Many times in my school, there was gang violence, and in the streets - dealers," he says. "But my personality was to work, study, and now I am in college."
As he leaves to meet friends, a steady stream of young people continue to stop at the street corner next to the hairdressers, some bringing bouquets of flowers. Several appear visibly shaken and have tears in their eyes.
"I knew him very well," says Elias, a 16-year-old who says he was friends with one of the victims, and has asked the BBC not to share his surname. "It feels unreal, you know. It doesn't feel like I've truly accepted the situation."
Spread of gang violence wrecks Sweden's peaceful image
Teenage guns for hire: Swedish gangs targeting Israeli interests
Sweden plans to remove citizenship from people seen as threat to state
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NBC Sports
15 hours ago
- NBC Sports
Immigration agents will have easier access to Chargers, Rams home games
The recent incident involving federal agents attempting to enter the parking lots at Dodgers Stadium has a bright-line connection to other L.A.-area sporting events that will begin in fewer than two months. SoFi Stadium will be hosting 19 total NFL games featuring the Chargers and the Rams. Unlike Dodger Stadium, where the gates can be accessed only through a parking-lot area not open to the public, the gates at SoFi Stadium are fully open to the public and not within an area to which access can be denied. Which means that federal agents can, if they choose, gather at the gates to SoFi in search of those who are or who may be authorized to be present in the United States. It's still not entirely clear what happened at Dodgers Stadium on Thursday. The team said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were denied entry to the parking lot. ICE called that claim 'false.' Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told NBC News that Customs and Border Protection vehicles 'were in the stadium parking lot very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement.' That wasn't the end of the matter. On Friday, the Dodgers donated $1 million to 'toward direct financial assistance for families of immigrants impacted by recent events in the region.' That wrinkle raises an obvious question. Will the other Los Angeles teams follow suit? Immigration continues to be a hot-button issue, throughout the country. But it's one thing to secure the border and/or to remove immigrants who have engaged in documented wrongdoing. The indiscriminate snatching and grabbing of human beings by federal officers who are inexplicably wearing masks raises very real questions about who we are and what we are becoming. Right or wrong, these actions create real trauma for immigrants and their families. By contributing $1 million to the effort, the Dodgers have underscored the simple reality that the chest-thumping mass deportation effort has real consequences for those who are taken away, and for those who have left behind. Maybe you're wired to say in response, 'Eff around and find out.' Or maybe you're actually inclined to believe and lives the lessons of the New Testament, and not to simply pretend to be a Christian.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Iran missile barrage leaves 19 injured in Israel's Haifa: hospital
Missiles fired from Iran on Friday left at least 19 people injured in the northern Israeli port of Haifa, a local hospital said, on the second week of war between the arch foes. Iran has been firing daily missile salvos at Israel for the past week, since a wide-ranging Israeli attack on the Islamic Republic's nuclear installations and military bases triggered war. At least one projectile appeared to evade Israel's air defences, slamming into an area by the docks of Haifa where it damaged a building and blew out windows, littering the nearby ground with rubble, AFP images showed. A spokesman for the city's Rambam hospital said 19 people had been injured, with one in a serious condition. Earlier, Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service reported two people had been injured by falling shrapnel after the attack but did not specify the location. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a statement that Haifa's Al-Jarina mosque "was struck by an Iranian missile, injuring Muslim clerics and worshippers at prayer". Foreign Minister Gideon Saar later shared a similar message on social media, adding that "the Iranian regime is targeting Muslim, Christian and Jewish civilians, as well as civilian sites. These are war crimes." A military official said that "approximately 20 missiles were launched towards Israel" in the latest Iranian salvo. Around 20 minutes after the air raid sirens were activated, the army released a statement saying people were allowed to leave bomb shelters. Earlier Friday, sirens rang out in parts of the country following another Iranian missile launch. AFP footage showed police operating in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, alongside emergency response teams and bomb disposal expert. Security forces there inspected a crater near residential buildings, where the wreckage of charred cars lay below the mangled metal of destroyed balconies. The Soroka Hospital in the city was struck on Thursday, injuring 40 people. Israel, saying Iran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons, launched a massive wave of strikes on June 13, triggering an immediate retaliation from Tehran. Residential areas in both countries have suffered, while Israel and Iran have traded accusations of targeting civilians. At least 25 people have been killed in Israel by Iranian missile strikes, according to authorities. Iran said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. bur-ds/adp/ami
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Miami Herald
‘Warm smile, kind heart': Family, friends mourn woman killed in Wynwood shooting
Evelyn Valdes rang in her 28th birthday in classic Miami fashion. Though the occasion took place days earlier, she took to Wynwood's club-lined streets Saturday to celebrate with friends under the blacklights of hotspots like 1-800-Lucky and Mayami Wynwood. Hours later, as last-call patrons trickled out onto the street, she was caught in a deadly crossfire between police officers and an armed man, cutting her life short. At around 3 a.m., cops in the area 'confronted' a man with a gun along Northwest First Court and 23rd Street before 'shots were fired,' Miami Police spokesperson Officer Mike Vega told the Miami Herald in an email. The gunfire hit both Valdes and the armed man, who were transported to Jackson Memorial's Ryder Trauma Center and pronounced dead, he confirmed. Whether Valdes was killed by police gunfire or the armed man is still unclear as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the lead agency for police-involved shootings, continues to investigate. 'Evelyn lived every moment to the fullest, capturing life's beauty with unyielding passion,' reads a statement released by the attorney of Kristy Garcia, Valdes' mother, on Tuesday. 'Her absence leaves a void that words cannot describe.' The 28-year-old was identified by Garcia before authorities through a GoFundMe page that she organized. In a note posted with the fundraiser for her funeral, the mom described her as 'not the intended target, just an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire' and said she was remembered for her 'warm smile, kind heart, and the way she could bring light into any room.' According to the Valdes family, Evelyn loved the ocean, had a sharp sense of humor and had recently come to the Christian faith. To her family — who knew her as 'Titi Evelyn' or 'Nana' — she spearheaded many academic firsts. Valdes grew up a Homestead local in the halls of the Medical Academy for Science and Technology, becoming the first high school graduate in her household in 2015. Her friend Michelle Trujillo, who attended MAST with the 28-year-old, shared on the social media platform that their after school routine consisted of Valdes 'walking past my house and stopping by to say hi on her way home.' She went on to complete a bachelor's and master's degree in social work at Barry University, graduating in 2023 after 'trials and tribulations, sleepless nights, lots of studying, and a couple of humbling hick-ups,' as one of her Facebook posts reads. Her account shows her to be an avid concertgoer who enjoyed traveling to places like South Carolina, Louisiana and the Bahamas. After finishing her studies, Valdes dedicated her talents to advocating for child victims of abuse and neglect at a local nonprofit, her family shared. To honor her, they say, answers are needed. 'We demand answers about the night that stole her from us and we also demand accountability from those involved,' reads the Valdes' statement. 'With limited information available, we plead for the community—near and far—to come forward with any details, including witness accounts, photos, videos, or social media posts, that could clarify the events leading to this tragedy.' Loved ones of the second victim, the armed man, are making similar requests. Though authorities haven't confirmed, family members are identifying him as 30-year-old Norman Lindo Jr. Saddened friends of his, like Tazzy Redd, are calling Saturday's shooting into question. Saying Lindo was the little brother of her kids' godmother, she took to Facebook asking community members to send in any video footage of the incident, saying 'We just really need to know what happened because we don't know.' Answers from authorities could come once the investigation is complete since 'FDLE as a routine does not comment or provide additional information,' on active investigations, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement told the Miami Herald in an email. 'Our family is overwhelmed with heartbreak, grief, anger, and countless unanswered questions,' read the Valdes' statement. 'The details surrounding that fateful night remain sparse, leaving us desperate for truth and accountability to honor Evelyn's memory.'
