On April 14, 2024, three people were shot with multiple bullets in Biskopsgården on Hisingen in Gothenburg. Two of the people shot died from their injuries at Sahlgrenska Hospital, while a third person avoided the bullets and survived. According to the investigation, the three men were outside a convenience store when the two now charged approached and asked for a cigarette lighter, but shortly after the question was asked, a pistol was drawn.
The two men charged are also charged with attempting to murder a man because the person the police assess was the intended target of the attack, a 28-year-old man linked to the 'Norra' network, was shot but managed to run away from the bullets. The police say the victims in the Biskopsgården shooting had no clear connection to either side in the district conflict and were unpunished (had no criminal record). Exactly what lies behind the double murder on Vintervädersgatan is unclear.
It shows not just an overrepresentation but that 100 percent of those convicted had foreign backgrounds.
Two men have been charged in connection with the Biskopsgården shooting. The two men charged were arrested just days after the incident and have been detained since. The investigation got a fast start as the two suspects could be arrested already on April 17, thanks to the National Forensic Centre (NFC) quickly analyzing evidence from the crime scene in the form of cartridge cases.
After eleven months of investigation, prosecutor Ulrika Åberg filed charges in the Biskopsgården case on Monday. The first court day was held for the double murder in Biskopsgården on Hisingen in Gothenburg last spring. One man, a 24-year-old with links to Trollhättan, is charged with murder in two cases and attempted murder in the Biskopsgården shooting.
I saw two people enter the restaurant in Biskopsgården carrying guns that looked like AK-47 assault rifles, and start shooting.
The 24-year-old accused was sentenced to prison for vandalism and violence against an official after the large Black Lives Matter demonstration in Gothenburg in 2020. The 22-year-old accused served three years in prison for involvement in a serious drug crime where he handled a carton of cannabis and cocaine. When the 22-year-old accused was arrested, he was visibly shaken and cried.
Neither of the accused had a prominent role in the conflict between the 'Södra' and 'Norra' networks in Biskopsgården. The suspects in the Biskopsgården case have consistently denied the crimes, except regarding the finding of explosives at one of their homes. An event the police have been interested in is that two weeks earlier, a young man was shot and injured in Flatås in southwestern Gothenburg, who is acquainted with those now charged.
It was a pure massacre.
The Biskopsgården conflict continued last year with several incidents, including a man shot in the leg on June 30 and two men killed in a rental car on September 2. This shooting occurred against the backdrop of a longer history of violence in the Biskopsgården area. In 2010, Biskopsgården was the Gothenburg district which had the highest rate of gang violence.
In 2012, a territorial crime gang in the area split into two factions. The shootings at the pub Vår Krog & Bar in Gothenburg happened on 18 March 2015. The pub, Vår Krog & Bar, is located in the Biskopsgården neighbourhood of Gothenburg on Hisingen, an area that has witnessed gang violence.
There are five different roles: two who shot, one who kept guard, one in the car and one who was in another car in the area.
Two unidentified gunmen entered the pub and began firing indiscriminately at people inside the restaurant. The pub was full of people watching a football match in the bar. The gunmen walked quickly around the rooms, spraying ammunition at anyone in their way, but focusing on one man who was their suspected main target.
The gunmen shot random people sitting at tables and at the bar, indiscriminately, and shot the suspected target in the face, killing him instantly. The suspected target was 25-year-old Houssein Chit from a rival gang. According to police reports, the victim suffered severe facial injuries.
Today, the gang environment is… I don't want to exactly call it the Wild West, but something in that direction.
On their way out they shot at more survivors and once the gunmen exited the bar, they shot and killed an innocent bystander, then fleeing the scene in the nearby car driven by the other suspects. The street of the pub was already under surveillance by police because of suspected drug dealing going on nearby, this made it possible for police to call for back-up and arrive very early on the chaotic scene and begin first aid. It is speculated by some that had police not arrived so quickly, many more would have died from gunshot wounds and loss of blood.
Two people died and eight were injured in the shooting at a restaurant at the Vårväderstorget square in the Biskopsgården area of Gothenburg in the evening of March 18th last year. The shootings are one of the rare times in which an innocent bystander has been killed in criminal rival gang violence in Sweden. The shooters were part of a gang from North Biskopsgården out for revenge.
Some years ago, it used to be very strong groups controlling the criminal world, but today we've got more and a lot smaller groups fighting for control of their areas – and that has increased the number of conflicts we see between groups and individuals.
Some early news reports described the shooting as terrorism related, which turned out to be false, it was later discovered that the suspects were targeting a rival gang member, thus making it a gang shooting. A year after the event, the Göteborgs-Posten newspaper described the shootings as one of the most unprecedented crimes of 2015. Other newspapers characterized it as part of a wave of high-profile attacks in Sweden in 2015, and part of a surge in violent conflict between rival criminal gangs.
Five men had been charged with murder, but only 28-year-old Adam Abdulahi and 25-year-old Ahmed Warsame were handed a lifetime sentence at Gothenburg District Court on Monday morning. The other three were sentenced to 14 years in jail in accordance with Swedish law, because they were under the age of 21 at the time. Another three, aged 19-22, were found guilty of aiding and abetting.
I heard 10 to 15 shots.
One was sentenced to 14 years in prison, another to ten years and the third to seven years. A point of contention during the long and complicated trial had been that the prosecutors struggled to determine who of the accused was responsible for what during the shooting, which is believed to have been linked to a gang conflict. It is understood that lawyers defending the accused will likely attempt to appeal the verdict.
The shooting was one of the most high-profile in Sweden in recent years, prompting a visit by Prime Minister Stefan Löfven and sparking debate about gang-related violence in Sweden's second-biggest city. Another seven people were killed in separate shootings in Gothenburg last year and 27 were injured. Sweden has experienced a wave of gang violence, fatal shootings, and bombings unparalleled in Europe in recent years.
It is too early to say but it is likely. These shootings are happening in the same area.
Authorities and media have struggled to provide comprehensive explanations for the trend of gang violence in Sweden. Sweden's public broadcaster SVT suggested in August 2024 that the rise in gang shootings was not easily explained, pointing to the closure of societal functions such as police stations and post offices rather than immigration. The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention has noted an increase in gang murders but has not compiled data on perpetrators' backgrounds.
nu examined immigrant backgrounds among all 60 people convicted of deadly violence in 2022, the most recent year where such an investigation was possible. All 18 individuals convicted of gang-related murders in 2022 had foreign backgrounds, in all cases either a middle eastern or african country. Of the total 60 people convicted of deadly violence in 2022, 40 had foreign backgrounds, either in the first or second generation.
It is really dangerous for the children and now everybody is thinking moving out of here. It's like living in a war zone.
Somalia was the most common country of origin among both foreign-born perpetrators and parents of Swedish-born offenders in the 2022 convictions. The Järva area northwest of Stockholm was the most common residence area for perpetrators in the 2022 convictions. The most common gang affiliation among those convicted in 2022 was the Flemingsberg network, with three members on the list.
Sweden has struggled in recent years to rein in shootings and bombings linked to score-settling between rival criminal gangs. Perpetrators are often young teens who are hired as contract killers because they are under 15, the age of criminal responsibility in Sweden. However, recent data shows some improvement.
Sweden saw a drop in the number of killings in 2024. 6 million people, 92 cases of deadly violence were recorded in 2024, 29 fewer than 2023, according to a report by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå) published in late March. Swedish police also said in January that the number of shootings had declined in 2024 for the second year in a row, with 296 shootings – a decrease of 20 percent compared with the year before.
Police attributed the decline to an increased ability to prevent and deter violent acts. Meanwhile, other gang-related cases are proceeding through the courts. Twelve people are charged for involvement in the murder of a man who was shot dead outside a mosque in Örebro during Friday prayers last year.
A 16-year-old is charged with shooting the man with several shots during Friday prayers on August 15, and the boy admits to the murder. Two other men, including a 23-year-old arrested in Cairo and extradited to Sweden in January, are also charged with murder. The 23-year-old was in an ongoing video call with the 16-year-old when the murder occurred.
The other man was at the scene and pointed out the man to be shot, according to the charges. Nine others are charged with aiding in the Örebro mosque murder case. The 16-year-old is also charged with attempted murder of another man outside the mosque, who was hit in the arm.
Several are also charged for other crimes, including preparation for murder of a person in Örebro in October and aggravated assault, linked to a gang conflict. Recent police activity continues. Two men in their thirties were arrested in Gothenburg over the weekend on suspicion of weapon crimes.
One was detained and the other was released, though he is still a suspect.