Swedish police report five shootings in four days

Sweden has seen five shootings in four days, according to a report by public broadcaster SVT Nyheter, though police say it is too early to determine whether the incidents are linked.

The shootings occurred in Örebro, Huddinge, Solna, Malmö, and Tyresö, with the latest confirmed fatality involving a young man shot on a public transport bus in Tyresö on Wednesday. Despite a relatively calm start to 2026 compared to previous years, authorities warn of a persistent high level of potential violence.

Magnus Mowits, deputy police area chief for Stockholm North, told SVT’s Morgonstudion that social media platforms are increasingly being used to incite and display violence. “We see in a number of social media apps that violence is being posted, that violence is being instigated,” he said, without specifying the scale or nature of the threats.

Mowits acknowledged that while police have successfully disrupted many planned violent acts, they cannot prevent all incidents. “We have, over time, had a good ability to interrupt, prevent, and deter a number of these serious violent crimes. But we don’t have the capacity to prevent and deter everything,” he stated.

In 2022, Sweden recorded 62 shootings, a figure that dropped to 53 the following year. The recent spike—five shootings since the weekend—marks the first such incidents of 2026. When asked whether the country should prepare for a new wave of violence, Mowits responded: “There is a potential for violence in society that is now spreading, particularly through social media and involving young offenders. As a society, we must never accept this level of violence, whether these are completed crimes or ones we’ve managed to prevent.”