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.[1] The pub, Vår Krog & Bar, is located in the Biskopsgården neighbourhood of Gothenburg on Hisingen, an area that has witnessed gang violence.[2] The shootings are one of the rare times in which an innocent bystander has been killed in criminal rival gang violence in Sweden. The shooters were part of a gang from North Biskopsgården out for revenge.[4]

2015 Gothenburg pub shooting
LocationGothenburg, Sweden
Date18 March 2015
22:00 (CET)
TargetRival gang members (south Biskopsgården)
Attack type
Mass shooting, gang shooting
WeaponsAKM rifles
Deaths2
Injured8-15[1][2]
PerpetratorsAdam Abdulahi
Ahmed Warsame
Jonis Adan
Onur Corap
Josef Hällgren
[3]

A year after the event, the Göteborgs-Posten newspaper described the shootings as "one of the most unprecedented crimes of 2015."[5] 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."[6][7]

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.[8]

Shooting

The attack began when four suspects parked a car outside a pub in Gothenburg. Two of the masked suspects entered the pub with fully loaded AKM assault rifles. One shooter was wearing a police vest. The pub was full of people watching a football match in the bar. The gunmen walked quickly around the rooms, spraying ammunition at anyone in their way, but focusing on one man who was their suspected main target. The gunmen shot random people sitting at tables and at the bar, indiscriminately, and shot the suspected target in the face, killing him instantly. According to police reports the victim "didn't have a face left". On their way out they shot at more survivors and once the gunmen exited the bar, they shot and 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.[9]

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-47 assault rifles, and start shooting.[10] Sky News described the gunman as having "sprayed the pub with bullets".[11][12]

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.[13]

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.[14]

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.[1]

Initially, four people were arrested in connection with the shooting.[15] 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.[16] 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.[17] The majority of the accused have East African origins, particularly Somalia, but had mainly grown up in Scandinavia.[18]

  • 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" (Swedish: framkallande av fara för annan) 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.[17]
  • 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.[17] He received the same prison charges and sentence as Abdulahi.[17]
  • "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.[17]
  • "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 ("the panthers"), 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,[19] 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.[17]
  • "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.[17]
  • 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.[17]

The two who received the longest sentences had their names published by Sveriges Television, contrary to standard practice, as their crime had a great impact on the general public, as the majority of the customers in the pub were ordinary law-abiding citizens.[17] Three of the perpetrators did not have their name published as they were 19–20 years old at the time, a fact which was taken into account by the courts as well for their sentences.[17]

The three perpetrators aged 21 were later named as Jonis Adan, Josef Hällgren and Onur Corap.[3]

In 2018, Jonis Adan was incarcerated in Saltvik, a prison with the highest securiy level. In the spring of 2020, Adan was moved to Salberga prison from Kumla prison. Later the same year prison authorities had recorded eight counts of disordely conduct for Adan while in prison, among which was using violence against another prisoner.[20]

Casualties

Innocent random bystander 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.[4][21]

The other casualty was a 25-year-old who was 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.[4] Another gang member is said to have left the pub just before the shootings.[4]

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.[22]

Motive

The shootings are widely regarded as being probably related to rivalry between immigrant gangs for control of the illegal trade in drug smuggling.[10] Hells Angels, Bandidos Motorcycle Club and gangs made up of members of several immigrant groups reportedly battle for control of the local drug trade.[10]

Police spokeswoman Ulla Brehm was quoted as saying that the attack could have been gang related and was not terror related.[1][2][23]

Aftermath

The events sparked a national debate about gun crime in Sweden's second largest city.[24] 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."[25]

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.”[4]

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.[26]

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.[9]

See also

References
  1. "BBC News - Two killed in Swedish restaurant shooting". BBC News. March 19, 2015. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
  2. "Gothenburg pub shooting: Two dead and eight injured after gunmen open fire in busy pub - Mirror Online". Mirror Online. March 18, 2015. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
  3. "Ny dokumentär i P3 om krogmassakern". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-10-10.
  4. Crouch, David (20 March 2015). "Sweden shooting puts focus on life in 'ghettoes without hope'". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  5. "Polischefen om 2015: Mitt mest komplicerade år". Goteborgs-Posten. 3 January 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  6. "Stockholm worst Nordic capital for gun crime". The Local. 2 November 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  7. "Four killed in car explosion in Sweden". The Guardian. AP. 13 June 2015.
  8. "Sju år – 31 olösta gängmord". Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-11-25.
  9. https://www.gp.se/det-gjorde-de-misst%C3%A4nkta-f%C3%B6re-morden-1.974915
  10. "Two killed and more than 10 injured in Swedish pub shooting". The Guardian. Agence France. 19 March 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  11. "Four dead in suspected car bombing in Gothenburg, Sweden". Newstalk. 13 June 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  12. "Four Killed In Car Blast In Gothenburg". Sky News. 3 June 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  13. Mikulski, Lisa (19 March 2015). "Update: Hisingen shooting". Goteborg Daily. Archived from the original on 3 May 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  14. SR,P3 dokumentär
  15. "Gothenburg shaken by suspected grenade blast". The Local. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  16. "Two locked up for life over restaurant shooting". The Local. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  17. Nyheter, SVT. "Här är männen som genomförde masskjutningen på Vår krog och bar". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-02-17.
  18. "Så blev vännerna dödsfiender". Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-02-17. Majoriteten av de åtalade efter skjutningen på Vår Krog & Bar har rötter från Östafrika, i första hand Somalia. Samtliga är till största delen uppväxta i Skandinavien.
  19. Aftonbladet, dokumentär, fotbollen och våldet
  20. "Jonis Adan, 25, nekas permission – kan fritas". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-10-10.
  21. Tagesson, Eric (11 April 2015). "Mördarna fortfarande på fri fot". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  22. "Sweden shootings: several dead at Gothenburg pub - World News - The Guardian". The Guardian. March 19, 2015. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
  23. "Man dead after fresh Gothenburg shooting". The Local. 16 April 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  24. "One injured after fresh shooting in Gothenburg". The Local. 13 May 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  25. Campbell, Bradley (19 March 2015). "Sweden's gang activity isn't reserved for its crime novels". Public Radio International. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  26. Scrutton, Alistair (9 August 2015). "In a port city, grenade attacks shatter Swedish sense of safety". Reuters. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  27. "Genombrott efter trippelmord i Malmö – göteborgare gripen". Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-11-24.
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