A 12-year-old boy has been detained in Sweden on suspicion of carrying out a drive-by shooting that killed a 21-year-old man, reportedly after being paid £20,000 for the hit. The incident occurred in Malmö on the evening of December 12, according to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.
The victim was shot while travelling in a car with friends along Galgebacksvägen in the Oxie area around 10.30pm. Police later found him alone in the back seat of a car in Hindby. He was taken to hospital but died shortly afterwards. The intended target is believed to have been one of the other occupants of the vehicle, all of whom have criminal records, reports Expressen.
Police identified the 12-year-old as the prime suspect and took him into custody on Tuesday. The boy, who is not from Malmö, is alleged to have travelled to the city specifically to carry out the attack. He was reportedly given several assassination assignments, with the killing carrying a payment of 250,000 SEK (£20,000), according to Expressen.
As the suspect is under 15, the age of legal responsibility in Sweden, he cannot be jailed. Instead, he has been taken into care and provided with legal counsel, court documents show. This makes him the youngest person in Sweden to be accused of a fatal shooting.
Sweden has one of the highest rates of youth street gang involvement in the EU. In 2023, 55 people were shot dead in 363 separate shootings, despite the country's population of 10.5 million. By comparison, only six fatal shootings occurred across Finland, Denmark, and Iceland combined that year.
