Three killed in Sweden shooting

STOCKHOLM: Three people were shot dead in a city north of the Swedish capital on Tuesday, police said, the latest shooting to rock the Nordic nation.

Police said they received reports of shots fired in the centre of Uppsala, some 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of the capital Stockholm and that "a certain number of people have been found with wounds that could have resulted from a shooting".

In an updated statement, police said "three people are confirmed deceased following a shooting", adding they had opened a murder investigation.

SVT public television reported that witnesses said a suspect had fled on a scooter.

Broadcaster TV4 said the shots were fired inside a hair salon in the centre of the city.

The Nordic country has struggled in recent years to rein in shootings and bombings linked to score-settling between rival criminal gangs.

Perpetrators are often young teens who are hired as contract killers because they are under 15, the age of criminal responsibility in Sweden.

Swedish police said in January that the number of shootings had declined in 2024 for the second year in a row, with 296 shootings - a decrease of 20 percent compared with the year before.