A 15-year-old girl has been arrested on suspicion of involvement in two separate fatal shootings in Sweden, according to reports from Swedish media. The girl was reportedly arrested on Friday and is being held on probable cause for murder, the higher level of suspicion under Swedish law.
The shootings occurred in Vårby, Stockholm and Rosengård, Malmö, and are part of a wave of violence that has seen five people shot in Sweden within five days, three of whom died. According to Svenska Dagbladet, the incidents highlight a concerning trend of increasing female involvement in gang environments.
Girls can do a lot, but usually not this type of crime.
Katharina Tollin from Brå (the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention) commented on the development, stating: 'Girls can do a lot, but usually not this type of crime.' Her remarks underscore the unusual nature of the allegations against the teenage girl.
Experts note that while girls and women have long been present in criminal environments, their involvement in violent crimes like shootings remains rare. Anna Hedin Ekström, a researcher and lecturer who has studied women's participation in criminal networks, explained that women in these environments have typically served as 'enablers' rather than perpetrators of serious violence.
Women in these environments have typically served as 'enablers' rather than perpetrators of serious violence.
The case has sparked discussions about the need to address what experts call the 'pink penal code' - a tendency to view female criminality more leniently than male criminality. According to Dagens Nyheter, criminal networks are increasingly actively seeking out girls and women for recruitment, partly because they have historically been less visible to law enforcement.