After the crime on Monday evening, a massive hunt was launched for the suspected perpetrator: 45-year-old Abdesalem Lassoued. On Tuesday morning, he was shot dead in a café by Belgian police.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said at a press conference that the man had occasionally stayed in Sweden.
Now SVT Nyheter can tell new details about his time here.
Arrested in Malmö
In September 2012, Abdesalem Lassoued was arrested together with two other people in Malmö. The police suspected that they were involved in drug dealing. After starting a preliminary investigation, they were able to establish that the suspicions were correct.
He was convicted later that year of serious drug offences, for possessing 100 grams of cocaine. The police also seized SEK 38,000 in cash. The sentence was two years and two months in prison and deportation for ten years. In the judgment, his name is spelled differently than in his Belgian identity documents.
“Be of deep faith”
SVT has spoken to a person who had contact with Abdesalem Lassoued during his time in Sweden.
– He was deeply religious but certainly not radicalized, says the person who was shocked when he saw the picture of the suspected perpetrator on the news.
In the apartment where Lassoued lived when he was arrested for the drug crime, the police established that his roommates were also running dog daycare.
– The security police have had no information about his activities or measures. We believe and assess that he may have traveled around Europe and the world with false identities, says Fredrik Hallström, operational manager at the Security Police.
Applied for asylum in Belgium in 2019
In 2019, Abdesalem Lassoued applied for asylum in Belgium, but he was rejected the following year and subsequently stayed in the country illegally.
According to the Belgian Minister of Justice, information was received in 2016 from a foreign police authority that Lassoued had been radicalized.