Two more immigrant shootings in Malmö

Malmö police have recruited the detective who played a decisive role in apprehending "Laser Man" gunman John Ausonius as a new double shooting has further raised fears of a repeat of 1991's racially-motivated attacks.

• Police warn immigrants after Malmö shootings (21 Oct 10)
• Three injured in Malmö shootings (20 Oct 10)
• Malmö shooter targeting immigrants: police (20 Oct 10)

The news comes as a further two women were hurt in a new shooting in Malmö on Thursday evening. The women, aged 26 and 34, were shot while in an apartment in the Kroksbäck neighbourhood of the city.

"They are immigrants from a European country," said Calle Persson at Skåne police.

The 26-year-old was injured slightly in the attack, most likely having been grazed in the back by a ricocheting bullet.

However, the 34-year-old received more serious injuries, ending up with a bullet in her arm, according to the Kvällsposten newspaper.

Police has asked for help in the case from detective inspector Eiler Augustsson, who is credited with playing a decisive role in the investigation and arrest of John Ausonius, who terrorized Stockholm’s immigrant population in the beginning of the 1990s.

Ausonius received his "Laser Man" moniker because his victims were targeted with a red dot from a rifle equipped with a laser sight.

Police fear that the shootings are the latest in a wave of attacks which are deliberately targeting people of immigrant origin. A total of 50 shootings have been recorded in the city this year, and police fear a number of these may have been carried out by a lone gunman.

Aside from the two women, there was also a child in the apartment when the shootings occurred.

"The child has been taken care of, I think by relatives," Persson said.

The apartment is located on the first floor of the apartment building.

The police have completed their forensic inspection of the apartment but are as yet uncertain as to the firearm used.

"Forensic evidence has been recovered from the location," said Jesper Ingvert at Malmö police to the local Sydsvenskan daily.

While no suspects have yet been identified, police confirm that they have a witness who could have seen the perpetrator.

"We have witnesses which we have interviewed. One of the witnesses has seen a man who left the location running," said Ingvert.

Malmö police plan to review their resources on Friday morning.

"We are going to put together a team here in the morning which will look at our operation in a little longer perspective," said Peter Martinsson at Malmö police.

Integration minister Erik Ullenhag, in an opinion article in the Expressen daily on Friday, called the attacks "alarming".

"Everyone has a responsibility to defend the open society where all, regardless of background, can be safe on our streets and town squares," Ullenhag wrote.

Ullenhag plans to visit Malmö on Friday to gather information on the atmosphere in the city after the shootings.

Meanwhile Juan Fonseca, former MP and head of the Discrimination bureau in Stockholm, has called on "all immigrants and ethnic Swedes" to call a five minute strike next Thursday, in support of the victims.

Gellert Tamas, the author of a renowned book about the "Laser Man" attacks told DN on Thursday that there are clear parallels.

"John Ausonius has been very clear in the interviews that I have conducted with him that he was inspired by the debate about immigrants which was conducted in the beginning of the 1990s," Tamas told DN.

"He felt a moral support, that people stood behind him. But he also felt a political support, from (populist anti-immigrant party) New Democracy primarily, but even from other political parties such as the Sweden Democrats."

Between August 1991 to January 1992, Ausonius, today 57, shot 11 people -- most of them immigrants -- in and around Stockholm. He killed one person and seriously wounded the others.

He was sentenced to life behind bars in 1994 and remains in prison.