Three people have been killed and several injured after being shot in eastern Sweden.
Swedish police said on Tuesday that multiple people in the city of Uppsala were found with injuries that indicated there had been gunfire.
‘Three people are confirmed deceased following a shooting,’ police said in a statement, adding they had opened a murder investigation.
The police said that they had received calls from members of the public who said they had heard noise that sounded like gunfire close to Vaksala Square in the centre of the city.
Police spokesman Magnus Jansson Klarin said: ‘We have received several reports of gunshots in the area. We’re trying to get a better idea of what happened. This is a serious incident and a very large-scale operation.’
A large area was cordoned off and several investigative measures were underway at the scene, they added. A police helicopter is circling the area.
It is unclear whether anyone has been arrested following the incident but local reports have claimed the perpetrator, who was wearing dark sunglasses and dark clothing, fled the crime scene on an electric scooter.
An anonymous witness who spoke to Swedish news outlet SVT said they heard five gunshots ring out, before seeing people running in different directions and hiding.
Swedish police said on Tuesday that multiple people in the city of Uppsala were found with injuries that indicated there had been gunfire
A large area was cordoned off and several investigative measures were underway at the scene
Witnesses who spoke to Sweden’s public service radio, Sveriges Radio, said they heard gunshots near a barber shop in a central square, not far from the train station.
One local told Aftonbladet: ‘There was a shot and then I heard screams. Then it took about 10 minutes before the police got there. It must have been on the street from what I could see’.
Another witness, who had been at a nearby playground with his son, said: ‘At first I didn’t understand what was making that loud noise, but when I saw and heard the police helicopter a little later and talked to other parents who had gone there and looked, it dawned on me.
‘I don’t feel like I’m scared myself, but of course it gets nasty when it happens here’.
The Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer commented on the incident and described it as ‘extremely serious’.
The Swedish Transport Administration stated that train traffic to and from Uppsala was temporarily stopped at 5:30pm, but by 6pm, it was back up and running.
The shooting happened on the eve of the Walpurgis spring festival, which brings large crowds onto the streets.
‘We see no danger to the public here and now, I want to be careful to emphasise that since many people are out celebrating,’ Klarin said.
It comes after ten people were killed in February in the Swedish city of Orebro in the country’s deadliest ever mass shooting, in which a 35-year-old opened fire on students and teachers at an adult education centre.
The Nordic country’s right-wing government subsequently said it would seek to tighten gun laws.