A 17-year-old is accused of killing a police officer in Gothenburg

A 17-year-old man has been arrested in Sweden on charges of killing a police officer in an exchange of fire, the first time in 14 years.

The suspect was arrested this afternoon and charged with murder and attempted murder. “He is a young man. “A 17-year-old man from a conflicting environment,” prosecutor Ulrika Amberg told a news conference.

Sweden: The minor denies the charges

The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a police recruiting center at Gothenburg, a suburb of Gothenburg. One of them was shot. The 30-year-old police officer, who had recently joined the body, died a few hours later at the hospital where he had been taken.

The last time a police officer was killed while on duty in Sweden was in 2007 in the town of Nikoping, while transporting a man convicted of negligent homicide to a psychiatric clinic.

Sweden has been trying for many years to curb the activity of organized gangs, which has led to an increase in deadly exchanges of gunfire and in many cases clearing accounts in an otherwise quiet country. In 2020, more than 360 incidents of firearms use were recorded, with 47 dead and 117 injured, a record number according to police. The Crime Prevention Council says the death toll has more than doubled in a decade.

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