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Toronto – Swedish police have announced that they have made an arrest in Friday morning’s beer truck attack which killed four people and injured 15 more.
“We have a person who is arrested who may have connections to the event in Stockholm earlier today,” police spokesperson, Towe Hagg, said.
Reuters reported that a Spendrups Brewery beer truck had been stolen Friday morning while making a delivery to a tapas bar on Stockholm’s busiest street, Drottninggatan. According to brewery spokesman, Marten Lyth, “a man wearing a mask jumped into the truck’s cab and drove away.”
40-ish Australian tourist, Glen Foran described what he saw to Reuters. “I turned around and saw a big truck coming toward me. It swerved from side to side. It didn’t look out of control, it was trying to hit people.” He continued his account, saying “It hit people, it was terrible. It hit a pram with a kid in it, demolished it.”
On his way back to Stockholm from a visit to western Sweden, the country’s Prime Minister, Stefan Lofven told reporters “Sweden has been attacked. Everything points to the fact that this is a terrorist attack.” So far no one has claimed responsibility and police aren’t releasing any further details regarding the suspect under arrest. The investigation into whether or not he acted alone is ongoing.
Another eye witness, asking not to be named, also related his account to Reuters. “We were standing by the traffic lights at Drottninggatan and then we heard some screaming and saw a truck coming.” He added that the truck then slammed into a pillar at the Ahlens City department store. The truck caught fire under the hood and the witness saw a man trapped under the truck’s tire.
Magnus Ranstorp, head of terrorism research at the Swedish Defence University, described the attack as an ideal method for doing damage and instilling large scale terror. “And this is a pretty cunning modus operandi,” he said. “To drive to Ahlens (department store) and stop … There is a way down to the subway just a few meters away from there, and then you … can jump on any train you want and quickly disappear.”
Sweden’s King Carl Gustaf said, “Our thoughts are going out to those that were affected, and to their families,” in a statement released following the incident. There has been no official claim of responsibility.
