A 15-year-old girl is suspected of involvement in two separate murders of teenage boys that occurred within three days in Stockholm and Malmö, according to police reports. The first shooting took place near a football field in Vårby gård, southern Stockholm, where a teenage boy was killed. Two days later, another teenage boy was shot dead approximately 60 miles away in Rosengård, Malmö.
Police are working on the theory that both murders are contract killings connected to a conflict between criminal networks. The same evening as the Rosengård shooting, the 15-year-old girl was arrested near the crime scene along with a 17-year-old boy who has confessed to the Malmö murder and serious weapons offenses. The girl denies involvement in both killings.
criminal networks actively recruit women and girls because they are harder for law enforcement to detect
According to Anna Hedin Ekström, who has researched women in criminal environments for the National Operational Unit (Noa), criminal networks actively recruit women and girls because they are harder for law enforcement to detect. A recent report from the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brottsförebyggande rådet) indicates that while fewer girls than boys participate in criminal networks, those who do often play central roles.