2015 Gothenburg pub shooting
The shootings at the pub Vår Krog & Bar in Gothenburg happened on 18 March 2015. Two unidentified gunmen entered a pub in Gothenburg, Sweden and began firing indiscriminately at people inside the restaurant. The pub, Vår Krog & Bar, is located in the Biskopsgården neighbourhood of Gothenburg on Hisingen, an area that has witnessed gang violence. This shooting marks the first time an innocent bystander has been killed by criminal gang violence in Sweden. The shooters were part of a gang from North Biskopsgården out for revenge.
A year after the event, the Göteborgs-Posten newspaper described the shootings as "one of the most unprecedented crimes of 2015." Other newspapers characterized it as part of "a wave of high-profile attacks in Sweden in 2015", and part of "a surge in violent conflict between rival criminal gangs."
In 2010, Biskopsgården was the Gothenburg district which had the highest rate of gang violence. In 2012, a territorial crime gang in the area split into two factions. The bar shooting was meant to destroy one of the rival factions.
Shooting
The attack began when four suspects parked a car outside a pub in Gothenburg. Two of the suspects entered the pub with fully loaded AKM assault rifles. The pub was full of people watching a football match in the bar. The gunmen walked quickly around the room, spraying ammunition inaccurately at anyone in their way, but focusing on one man who was their suspected main target. The gunmen shot people sitting at tables and at the bar and shot the suspected target in the face with a.30-caliber bullet, killing him instantly. On their way out they shot at survivors and once the gunmen exited the bar, they shot and instantly killed an innocent young adult bystander, then fleeing the scene in the nearby car driven by the other suspects.The street of the pub was already under surveillance by police because of suspected drug dealing going on nearby, this made it possible for police to call for back-up and arrive very early on the chaotic scene and begin first aid. It is speculated by some that had police not arrived so quickly, many more would have died from gunshot wounds and loss of blood.
A witness who spoke to journalists for Aftonbladet, said that he saw two people enter the restaurant in Biskopsgården carrying guns that looked like AK-47s, and start shooting. Sky News described the gunman as having "sprayed the pub with bullets".
Some early news reports described the shooting as terrorism related, which turned out to be false, it was later discovered that the suspects were targeting a rival gang member, thus making it a gang shooting.
The responding police units and ambulances described a bloodbath inside the pub and a surreal scene with the girlfriend of one victim sitting next to the body "which had no face left" and one customer so shocked he was still sitting in the bar casually drinking a beer. The reports mention a thick stench of iron and gunpowder from the blood and gunshots making it hard for the police to breathe. One policeman said he repeatedly thought he dropped his keys when searching the pub, because he heard a metallic noise, and realizing that it was the floor covered with bullet cases which was impossible to not step on that made the noise every time he moved. Another police on the scene mentioned how almost no details, mirrors or furniture had been damaged, as the shooters had systematically targeted the people inside.
Investigation and trials
The gunmen were believed to have fled the scene after the shooting. Following the shooting police sealed off the area and launched a murder investigation.Initially, four people were arrested in connection with the shooting. Five men were eventually charged with murder. On 8 August 2016, following a two-month trial at the Gothenburg District Court, two of the men were sentenced to life imprisonment; the other three, who were under the age of 21 at the time of the shooting, were sentenced to 14 years in prison. Three other people were sentenced to between 7 and 14 years for aiding and abetting the crime. The seven were convicted for assistance to murder and assistance to attempted murder, as authorities could not prove precisely who was holding the murder weapons.
Perpetrators
All perpetrators behind the shooting grew up in the northern parts of Biskopsgården district, or had connections there. The majority of the accused have East African origins, particularly Somalia, but had mainly grown up in Scandinavia.- Adam Abdulahi was 28 years old at the time and is a Danish citizen. He was sentenced to life in prison for two murders and 24 attempted murders by the district court. The courts of appeal upheld the life in prison sentence, but changed the classification of the crime charges from two murder to two assisted murders. Five of the 24 attempted murder were changed into a charge of "putting people in danger" ' and he was sentenced for those five. He procured the police vest, rented the two apartments where the shooting was prepared and the escape vehicle. In 2011 he was sentenced to 30 months in prison for drug offences and drug smuggling. The sentence was partially served in Denmark.
- Ahmed Warsame, 25 years old, was sentenced to life in prison. Warsame was involved in purchasing the escape vehicle.For some years he lived in England but he returned to Gothenburg in February 2015, only a month before the shooting. In March 2014 he was shot in the foot, the day after Adam Abdulahi was fired upon. He received the same prison charges and sentence as Abdulahi.
- "The Security Guard", 21 years old. He grew up and lived in Biskopsgården, had training from Swedish Armed Forces and professional permit to work as a security guard. He knew the other perpetrators from school. Unlike the other perpetrators he had good grades from secondary education and had several steady jobs. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison. He was also sentenced for having shot and killed a victim in his 50s in the Brämaregården area.
- "The Footballer", 21 years old, grew up in Biskopsgården and had previous convictions for robbery, unlawful driving and minor drug offences. He had connections to the group Pantrarna, which was supposed to help by working with assisting and informing vulnerable districts in the city, but also comprised several members with connections to organized crime. He was a young aspiring football professional who was ready to sign a contract with Chelsea Football Club, before he participated in the shooting. He received a sentence of 14 years in prison by the district court, but the court of appeal shortened his sentence to 12 years in prison due to his younger age.
- "The Car Renter"''', 21 years old, lived in Biskopsgården until 2014. He had several for serious crime, the first at 15 years old when he was arrested for possessing a weapon. He was sentenced in 2010 and 2014 again for possessing a weapon, battery and theft. He procured the balaclavas used during the shooting, two bulletproof vests and rented the white Volvo which was used. He received a sentence of 14 years in prison by the district court, which was upheld by the court of appeal.
- Two further accused were sentenced for assisting the shooting, one of which is believed to have committed arson in another part of the city to distract emergency service.
Casualties
Petar Petrovic, 20, a Swedish citizen of Serbian origin, who worked at the pub as a DJ and was scheduled start university in London, was killed.The other casualty was a 25-year-old who reported to have recently been released from jail and said to be a leading figure in a local gang, called Vårvädersligan after the square where the shootings took place. Another gang member is said to have left the pub just before the shootings.
Several people were reported dead following the attack, with police saying the death toll is expected to rise. Emergency services told newspaper GT that eight people were taken to hospital and two people were confirmed dead.
Motive
The shootings are widely regarded as being probably related to rivalry between immigrant gangs for control of the illegal trade in drug smuggling. Hells Angels, Bandidos Motorcycle Club and gangs made up of members of several immigrant groups reportedly battle for control of the local drug trade.Police spokeswoman Ulla Brehm was quoted as saying that the attack could have been gang related and was not terror related.
Aftermath
The events sparked a national debate about gun crime in Sweden's second largest city. According to Associated Press reporter Karl Ritter, the problem of gang violence is exacerbated by the fact that the gangs operate in, "immigrant neighborhoods, where people come from other countries where perhaps they don't have the same trust in their authorities as people in general do in Sweden."According to The Guardian, "Sweden has been shocked by the barbarity and indiscriminate nature of the Gothenburg shootings... The tragedy has also shone a spotlight on a hidden aspect of Swedish society that reads like the subplot of a Stieg Larsson novel, in which poverty, racism and segregation are driving young men from immigrant backgrounds into gangs and gun crime.”
This crime is part of a recent wave of crimes that, according to Swedish journalist Joakim Palmkvist, play into "the hand of the far right," driving centrist voters to support the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats.
The police and prosecutor was criticized in Aftonbladet and other media for translating gangsta rap lyrics that the shooters had listened to before and after the shooting, and using this as part of the evidence in the case.