21st Century Wire says…
A 39-year-old man from Uzbekistan detained by Swedish authorities on Friday, whom drove a hijacked delivery truck into crowds on Stockholm’s busiest shopping street that killed four and injured many, was ‘previously known to the security services’.
National Police Chief Dan Eliason said that the suspect had previously been named in security information but was not recently under investigation, describing the suspect as “a more marginal character”.
“The suspect didn’t appear in our recent files but he earlier has been in our files..” said Anders Thornberg, head of the Säkerhetspolisen, better known as Säpo, the Swedish Security Service.
He said the security services were working with other nations’ security agencies on the matter, but declined to elaborate.
A police patrol stopped the man on Friday after the attack because he had “behaved in a way that made him interesting”, and he resembled a suspect in photos issued by police shortly after the crash. Other media reports said a second man had been detained on suspicion of being connected to the main suspect. The police declined to comment on whether it had arrested any other people.
Just what is going on with the security services in European countries? 21st Century Wire’s Shawn Helton would be a good place to begin regarding recent events in London and how to examine and connect these recurring ‘patterns’ of failures in intelligence including what it could all mean.
Some call it ‘conspiracy theory’; we call it using facts to throw light on the security services in these situations and ask the bigger, more important questions that need answering.
More on this report at The Guardian…
David Crouch and Agencies
The Guardian
The driver of a hijacked beer delivery truck that careered into crowds on Stockholm’s largest shopping street, killing four and injuring many more, is believed to be a 39-year-old man from Uzbekistan previously known to the security services.
Police in Sweden’s capital confirmed that a man had been arrested “on suspicion of a terrorist crime through murder” after the attack on Friday afternoon, which saw the haulage vehicle drive down a pedestrianised street in the capital before crashing into a department store.
Karin Rosander, a communications director at the Swedish prosecution authority, said that police suspected the arrested man had carried out the attack. He continued to be detained on Saturday.
The country’s national police chief, Dan Eliason, confirmed reports that the suspect was aged 39 and from the central Asian country. He added that he had previously been named in security information but was not recently under investigation, describing the suspect as “a more marginal character”.
Anders Thornberg, head of the Swedish security service, said: “The suspect didn’t appear in our recent files but he earlier has been in our files.”
He said the security services were working with other nations’ security agencies on the matter, but declined to elaborate.
About 15 people were injured and four killed in the attack launched on Drottninggatan, one of the city’s main public thoroughfares. Five of the injured had been released from hospital by Saturday morning but ten remained under care, including a child.
Police sources reportedly told the Swedish broadcaster SVT that a bag of explosives was found in the truck and a bomb disposal unit was deployed overnight. They added that the devices had not been detonated and it is claimed the suspect had “burned himself”. Officials declined to confirm the reports but added that a device of some kind had been found in the truck.
“The person in question has been arrested as the culprit … in this case the driver,” police spokesman Lars Bystrom said.
A police patrol stopped the man on Friday after the attack because he had “behaved in a way that made him interesting”, and he resembled a suspect in photos issued by police shortly after the crash.
According to a report in the Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet, citing a police source, the arrested man is a 39-year-old from Uzbekistan. He had minor injuries and broken glass on his clothes, which matched those of the man in the photos. He is said to have taken a train north from the city after the attack and was arrested in a suburb near the airport, although he lives elsewhere in Stockholm.
Police spokesman Lars Bystrom declined to comment on the reports.
Other media reports said a second man had been detained on suspicion of being connected to the main suspect. The police declined to comment on whether it had arrested any other people.
If confirmed as a terrorist attack, it would be Sweden’s first such assault using a large vehicle…
Continue this report at the The Guardian
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