Published: Just now
The violence is creeping ever closer in Sweden’s capital.
Moving is not a solution:
– In any case, there is nowhere where you would feel completely safe in Stockholm, says Christina Steen, 52.
A concern is spreading after the recent acts of violence in the Stockholm area, but also a sense of resignation. This is evident when Aftonbladet interviews people in violence-affected areas on Saturday:
– If you want to escape the violence, you’ll probably have to move to the countryside, says Anna Clementson, 61.
She lives near Huvudsta centrum in Solna, where a man in his 40s was shot dead on Friday evening. Last autumn, her own staircase was also blown up.
– It was right at my gate. It felt really uncomfortable. You feel exposed, even though it wasn’t directed at me.
What do you think now that it happens again?
– I don’t think it matters where you live anymore. It creeps closer and closer. It’s easy to just walk by and accidentally get shot, says Anna Clementson and continues:
– I don’t think the police did enough. Real resources must be invested.
“All types of drug dealing take place here”
An anonymous man whom we meet in the Huvudsta center tells us about the drug trade:
– You see young people hanging around. All kinds of drug dealing takes place here, it’s nitrous oxide and cannabis. Activity increased in 2022, he says.
Outside the police cordons, Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer is herded around by the police, and then answers the press’s questions about the recent weeks’ spiral of violence in the Stockholm area:
– It is an exceptional turn of events, which also takes place in the light of an exceptional year with 61 fatal shootings in Sweden. I have repeatedly called these criminals domestic terrorists. It’s still a valid description.
“The violence came very close, only 100 meters away”
Tuva Viklander, 21, lives in the house next to the place where the fatal shooting occurred on Friday evening.
– I don’t really feel safe here anymore. I don’t want to be out in the evenings, especially not with my daughter, she says and continues:
– You hear that things are happening around Stockholm. But when it comes so close, just 100 meters from our apartment, then it feels uncomfortable.
Lauri Järvinen, 90, walks by slowly with his walker and says:
– How can Sweden, which was such a good country, become like this?
Andreas Drufva’s 9-year-old daughter passed the crime scene with a friend a few hours before the shooting. They would buy sweets:
– What happened is very sad, you feel sad, says Andreas. But I think it’s really important not to get too scared. I still think this is a quiet area.
In the next breath, he ponders what could have happened during his daughter’s walk:
– It is clear that we are thinking about it. But we must not let ourselves be intimidated, he says.
“The violence makes me sad and scared”
We go on to Gullmarsplan south of Södermalm, where we meet two people who are both cut. Last Thursday, an explosion occurred in a stairwell in Årsta, the area where both live.
– It feels very unfunny. It happens like everywhere. In Västerort, in Söderort and in the City, says Christina Steen, 52.
Thinking of moving?
– I absolutely do not want to do that. I hope there is a solution to this.
Maybe it would be difficult to move away from the violence anyway?
– Yes, there is nowhere where you would feel completely safe in Stockholm anyway, says Christina Steen.
Frenchman Thomas Saint Etienne, 27, has lived in Årsta for four years:
– The violence makes me sad, and sometimes scared. We hope it ends soon.
What do you think when you get scared?
– That it could happen to me or a friend, or the family.
Are you afraid of the future?
– I am optimistic. I hope we will resolve this, says Thomas Saint Etienne.