The Swedish police carried out a counter-terrorism blitz in the south of Stockholm, arresting three people: Swedish public television reports it. According to Expressen, the three people taken into custody are linked to the Uzbek arrested yesterday, considered the number one suspect in the Stockholm attack. According to Swedish media, the three people arrested are two men and a woman. The blitz was triggered shortly after 17 pm, and took place a few hundred meters from the place where yesterday the man originally from Uzbekistan suspected of being the author of the Stockholm attack was arrested. The three, as far as we know, were in a white car.
The man arrested yesterday as part of the investigation into the Stockholm attack is suspected of having been driving the truck with which the attack was carried out: the capital's police spokesman, Lars Bystrom, said this morning, according to reports the British newspaper The Guardian. "The person in question was arrested as the culprit... in this case the driver," said the spokesman, who did not confirm the second arrest reported by local media today. The Swedish prosecutor confirmed that the man suspected of carrying out the attack is a 39-year-old born in Uzbekistan.
The man was in the past in the Swedish intelligence files: the same head of the country's 007 interior, Anders Thornberg, said today. "The suspect hasn't appeared in our recent files, but he was in our files in the past," Thornberg said, explaining that the Swedish security services are working with agencies from other countries on the case. The 39-year-old had previously posted ISIS propaganda material on Facebook and 'liked' a photo of the Boston Marathon massacre in April 2013. The 39-year-old "never talked about politics or religion, only about how to earn more to send money to the family”, says an acquaintance. The suspect is a father of four and works in a construction company, according to the same newspaper.
Yesterday's arrest was formally identified as a suspect of a "terrorist crime by homicide": a Swedish prosecutor, Hans Ihrman, announced today. The prosecutor said the man, whose identity is not known, is due to appear before noon Tuesday before noon to decide whether he will be imprisoned before trial or whether he should be released. According to Swedish media, the man is a 39-year-old Uzbek and has four children.
According to various Swedish sites, which cite police sources, investigators found a bag with explosives in the truck that crashed into the crowd: according to the Swedish police chief, the object could be a bomb or an incendiary device.
Meanwhile, the Swedish health service said that 10 people are still hospitalized following injuries sustained during yesterday's attack. Of the people hospitalized, six were discharged. It was also specified that four are seriously injured and two are in intensive care. Among the patients there is also a child but his injuries are not considered serious.
