Swedish police find gun used in fatal shooting of woman

August 27, 2019 - 6:30 am

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The gun believed to have been used to kill a woman in a suspected gang-related slaying between feuding criminal groups has been found, Swedish police said Tuesday, a day after Prime Minister Stefan Lofven called the episode "an unbelievably cruel act."

The 31-year-old woman, who reportedly was carrying a child in her arms, was shot in the head Monday. Police say their main theory is that the child's father was the shooter's target. A man was arrested Monday, but he is not believed to be the gunman.

Senior police officer Mattias Sigfridsson said he "will not exclude" an arrest later in the day.

He said Tuesday "we have a good picture of the people involved" in the shooting in western Malmo, Sweden's third largest city.

Sigfridsson said Tuesday "it is far too early to draw any conclusions." He declined to elaborate.

Swedish media said one or several masked men shot the woman on a Malmo street, reportedly with her husband at her side. The Aftonbladet daily said she was shot by mistake and that the father has a criminal past and had served time in prison for a robbery a decade ago.

Police have declined to confirm whether she was carrying a child but confirmed there was a child at the scene.

None of those involved has been identified.

Justice Minister Morgan Johansson tweeted Monday that those behind the shooting are "cowardly and disgusting beasts."

Sweden has seen a rise in organized crime activity in the past few years. Several criminal gang shootings have taken place in its three major cities: Stockholm, Goteborg and Malmo.

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