Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday
Teenager held over fatal shooting in southern Sweden, six people taken to hospital with suspected mushroom poisoning and far-right MP suggests Swedes should be allowed to carry guns. Here's the latest news.
Teenager held over shooting in Helsingborg
A teenage boy is being held on suspicion of murder after a fatal shooting in the Dalhem area of southern Swedish city Helsingborg on Tuesday morning.
Several people called police when they heard the sound of gunshots, and police found a man with gunshot wounds on the scene.
Police told Swedish media the man, in his 20s, is believed to have been sitting in a car when he was shot, and witnesses spoke of seeing a lone shooter.
Swedish vocabulary: a suspicion – en misstanke
Teenage son rescues dad in bear attack in Sweden
A hunter who was attacked by a bear during Sweden’s bear hunt has spoken to public broadcaster SVT about the experience.
“The bear came towards us and we actually had a chance at a shot, but the dogs were in the way. Then the female bear suddenly spotted me and attacked and bit me in the face,” he said.
The man’s 14-year-old son then ran up to the pair and punched the bear on the head. The bear then turned and bit him, but while the bear was briefly distracted the father managed to shoot it.
Both men are well under the circumstances. The son has had surgery on a broken wrist, and the man remains in hospital for now, but thanks to his son’s intervention, his injuries aren’t life-threatening.
Swedish vocabulary: a wrist – en handled
Six people taken to hospital with mushroom poisoning
Six people were taken to hospital with mushroom poisoning at a family dinner, reports the DN daily. One man had suspected heart failure and five children at the dinner were also feeling unwell.
The man was initially taken to intensive care, but is now being treated at a regular hospital ward. The children have been able to leave hospital.
The Swedish Poisons Information Centre believes, after having seen images described as being of relatively poor quality, that the dinner guests believed they were eating parasol mushroom (stolt fjällskivling) but in fact ate panther cap (panterflugsvamp), a mushroom which is poisonous but not deadly.
Around 150-200 people receive hospital treatment for mushroom poisoning every year in Sweden.
Here are another eight poisonous mushrooms to avoid in the Swedish forests.
Swedish vocabulary: mushroom poisoning – svampförgiftning
Sweden Democrat MP: Let civilians carry guns to fight crime
A member of parliament representing the far-right Sweden Democrat party sparked a stir after he took to communications app X, formerly known as Twitter, to suggest that Sweden should change its firearm laws to allow civilians to carry guns to help fight terrorists and gang crime.
“If you think about what happened at Drottninggatan, and similar things have happened in France, if there were weapons in place when an act of terror happens you could save lives,” Josef Fransson later expanded to the TT newswire, adding that civilians should receive training and pass tests to receive a permit to carry guns.
He stressed it wasn’t meant as a serious legal proposal, but an open invitation to discuss the idea.
Sweden has a high rate of firearm ownership, but strict laws controlling usage. A total of 20,958 people were murdered with a gun in the US in 2021, according to the CDC, a country with more liberal gun laws (although they vary between states). In the same year, 45 people died in shootings in Sweden. In 2022, 63 people died in shootings in Sweden. Five people died in the attack on Drottninggatan in 2017, whereas 23 people were killed in a violent shooting in El Paso, Texas, in 2019, a state where civilians are generally allowed to carry handguns.
Swedish vocabulary: a weapon – ett vapen
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Teenager held over shooting in Helsingborg
A teenage boy is being held on suspicion of murder after a fatal shooting in the Dalhem area of southern Swedish city Helsingborg on Tuesday morning.
Several people called police when they heard the sound of gunshots, and police found a man with gunshot wounds on the scene.
Police told Swedish media the man, in his 20s, is believed to have been sitting in a car when he was shot, and witnesses spoke of seeing a lone shooter.
Swedish vocabulary: a suspicion – en misstanke
Teenage son rescues dad in bear attack in Sweden
A hunter who was attacked by a bear during Sweden’s bear hunt has spoken to public broadcaster SVT about the experience.
“The bear came towards us and we actually had a chance at a shot, but the dogs were in the way. Then the female bear suddenly spotted me and attacked and bit me in the face,” he said.
The man’s 14-year-old son then ran up to the pair and punched the bear on the head. The bear then turned and bit him, but while the bear was briefly distracted the father managed to shoot it.
Both men are well under the circumstances. The son has had surgery on a broken wrist, and the man remains in hospital for now, but thanks to his son’s intervention, his injuries aren’t life-threatening.
Swedish vocabulary: a wrist – en handled
Six people taken to hospital with mushroom poisoning
Six people were taken to hospital with mushroom poisoning at a family dinner, reports the DN daily. One man had suspected heart failure and five children at the dinner were also feeling unwell.
The man was initially taken to intensive care, but is now being treated at a regular hospital ward. The children have been able to leave hospital.
The Swedish Poisons Information Centre believes, after having seen images described as being of relatively poor quality, that the dinner guests believed they were eating parasol mushroom (stolt fjällskivling) but in fact ate panther cap (panterflugsvamp), a mushroom which is poisonous but not deadly.
Around 150-200 people receive hospital treatment for mushroom poisoning every year in Sweden.
Here are another eight poisonous mushrooms to avoid in the Swedish forests.
Swedish vocabulary: mushroom poisoning – svampförgiftning
Sweden Democrat MP: Let civilians carry guns to fight crime
A member of parliament representing the far-right Sweden Democrat party sparked a stir after he took to communications app X, formerly known as Twitter, to suggest that Sweden should change its firearm laws to allow civilians to carry guns to help fight terrorists and gang crime.
“If you think about what happened at Drottninggatan, and similar things have happened in France, if there were weapons in place when an act of terror happens you could save lives,” Josef Fransson later expanded to the TT newswire, adding that civilians should receive training and pass tests to receive a permit to carry guns.
He stressed it wasn’t meant as a serious legal proposal, but an open invitation to discuss the idea.
Sweden has a high rate of firearm ownership, but strict laws controlling usage. A total of 20,958 people were murdered with a gun in the US in 2021, according to the CDC, a country with more liberal gun laws (although they vary between states). In the same year, 45 people died in shootings in Sweden. In 2022, 63 people died in shootings in Sweden. Five people died in the attack on Drottninggatan in 2017, whereas 23 people were killed in a violent shooting in El Paso, Texas, in 2019, a state where civilians are generally allowed to carry handguns.
Swedish vocabulary: a weapon – ett vapen
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