Swedish police announced on Wednesday that a woman in her 60s had been killed in a broad daylight knife attack on the island of Gotland, where the country’s top politicians are meeting for a week.
“Unfortunately, I can report to you that a woman has succumbed to her injuries,” Gotland Police Chief Fredrik Persson said at a press conference where it was made clear that the assault happened. shortly before 2 p.m. local time. He added that a 33-year-old man was arrested shortly after the incident and was suspected of murder.
A political motive cannot be excluded
“A thorough investigation is underway. This includes establishing the motive and background of the person arrested,” continued the police chief. He added that investigators were looking into a series of questions “as it happened in a very public place, where there were a lot of people in the center of Visby in the middle of the day”. Police declined to comment on the motive, although Mr Persson admitted a political motive could not be ruled out at this early stage of the investigation.
Police also said they did not believe the events were related to Almedalen Week, an annual event that brings together Sweden’s elite and where political parties often present their new policies and launch their campaigns. The newspaper Expressen reported that the suspect has ties to the neo-Nazi group NMR, which police would not confirm.