Gothenburg blast: Police identify suspect with 'no link to criminal gangs'
Police have confirmed that they have identified a suspect for the blast in Gothenburg earlier this week, which forced around 200 people to evacuate their homes and seriously injured four.
The detonation occurred shortly before 5am on Tuesday morning, and 16 people were treated in hospital as a result, while residents have not been able to return to their homes.
Police have now issued a warrant for the arrest of a suspect for devastation endangering the public on probable cause (the higher degree of suspicion under Swedish law). The warrant was issued in the suspect's absence and police have not yet located the person.
"In light of what is known in the investigation, we can say that there is no connection to gang crime," regional police chief Klas Johansson told a press conference.
He added that the technical investigation had been delayed due to the conditions at the site of the detonation, which made it too difficult for technicians to enter.
Police did not go into any details at the press conference about who the suspect was or what the likely motive behind the act was, but Johansson said: "It is of course very important that we get hold of this person as soon as possible." Swedish media including SVT Väst cited anonymous sources that said the suspect was a 55-year-old man.
Local newspaper Göteborgs-Posten reports that the Swedish Enforcement Agency had planned to carry out an eviction at the address on Tuesday, which may be linked to the blast.
Police had said on Tuesday that the blast was unlikely to be due to natural causes.
Up until September 15th this year, Swedish police had recorded 60 explosions classified as ‘endangerment of the public’. Many of these blasts are thought to be linked to criminal gang conflicts, but the crime has a relatively low clearance rate meaning the motive and suspects cannot always be identified.
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The detonation occurred shortly before 5am on Tuesday morning, and 16 people were treated in hospital as a result, while residents have not been able to return to their homes.
Police have now issued a warrant for the arrest of a suspect for devastation endangering the public on probable cause (the higher degree of suspicion under Swedish law). The warrant was issued in the suspect's absence and police have not yet located the person.
"In light of what is known in the investigation, we can say that there is no connection to gang crime," regional police chief Klas Johansson told a press conference.
He added that the technical investigation had been delayed due to the conditions at the site of the detonation, which made it too difficult for technicians to enter.
Police did not go into any details at the press conference about who the suspect was or what the likely motive behind the act was, but Johansson said: "It is of course very important that we get hold of this person as soon as possible." Swedish media including SVT Väst cited anonymous sources that said the suspect was a 55-year-old man.
Local newspaper Göteborgs-Posten reports that the Swedish Enforcement Agency had planned to carry out an eviction at the address on Tuesday, which may be linked to the blast.
Police had said on Tuesday that the blast was unlikely to be due to natural causes.
Up until September 15th this year, Swedish police had recorded 60 explosions classified as ‘endangerment of the public’. Many of these blasts are thought to be linked to criminal gang conflicts, but the crime has a relatively low clearance rate meaning the motive and suspects cannot always be identified.
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