Twenty-three innocent bystanders have been killed and 30 wounded in gangland shootings in Sweden in the past three years, according to statistics released on Monday that highlighted its battle to rein in violent crime.
The country has struggled for more than a decade to contain gang violence linked primarily to score-settling and battles to control the drug market.
The innocent victims include people hit by stray bullets, cases of a mistaken identity by the shooter and relatives of targeted gang members, according to police statistics.
Alexander Wallenius, operations coordinator at the Swedish police’s department of national operations, told news agency TT that one reason for the number of bystanders injured was that many of the shooters were young.
“We are dealing with very young perpetrators who, in many cases, have no previous experience of violent crime, which means a greater risk that third parties or the wrong target will be hit,” Wallenius said.
Swedish gangs often use social media and encrypted apps to recruit teens who are paid to carry out crimes.
The recruits are often under the age of 15, Sweden’s age of criminal responsibility, meaning they cannot be prosecuted and fall under the responsibility of social services, making them valuable assets to gangs.
The minority right-wing government, propped up by the far-right Sweden Democrats, has been pushing through proposals cracking down on crime and immigration ahead of a general election on 13 September.
Last week it said it planned to introduce legislation requiring social media platforms like TikTok and Snapchat to take down gangs’ “murder adverts” within an hour or face hefty fines.
The government has previously announced plans to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 13 for crimes punishable by at least four years in prison.
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