2009–10 Malmö shootings | |
---|---|
Location | Malmö, Sweden |
Date | December 2009–October 2010 |
Target | People with dark skin and non-Swedish appearance in hopes of them being immigrants[1][2] |
Attack type | Shooting |
Weapons | Glock 19 |
Deaths | 1(+1 murder in 2003) |
Injured | 13 |
Perpetrators | Peter Mangs |
Motive | Opposition to immigration |
The Malmö shootings were a string of attacks by Peter Mangs, a serial shooter[3] lone wolf terrorist,[4] also known as the Laser Man II, in the southern Swedish city of Malmö between December 2009 and October 2010. The shooter apparently targeted people with dark skin and non-Swedish appearance. As of 23 October 2010, as many as 15 shootings were linked to the same suspect.[1][2]
The attacks, carried out with a 9mm Glock 19 handgun, started as early as in December 2009. At the same time, the fatal shooting of a 20-year-old woman in October 2009 has also been linked to the same perpetrator.[5] The woman was the only ethnically Swedish victim,[6] who was in the company of a friend of immigrant origin.[7] This murder has been linked to the other shootings through forensic evidence, showing that the weapon used was the same gun as the one used in several of the other attacks.[6]
The attacks soon spread fear among the substantial immigrant population of Malmö. "Many people are frightened at the moment", said Tahmoures Yassami, the leader of the Iranian-Swedish Association in Malmö, "especially families who have children."[8] The local police warned against panic, pointing out that the risk for any individual of being shot was very low.[9] At the same time, they cautioned people of ethnic minorities to avoid secluded areas after dark, which was when the attacks had been taking place.[10]
The shooter was compared to the likes of John Ausonius, dubbed the "Laser man", who committed similar crimes in 1991–92, targeting eleven men of immigrant origin in the Stockholm and Uppsala area, killing one.[9][2]
On 6 November 2010, Swedish police announced that they had arrested a man they suspected was the shooter.[11] According to Malmö police he was under suspicion of one murder and seven murder attempts.[12] The man arrested was a 38-year-old Swedish man, Peter Mangs.[13] He expressed strong anti-immigrant sentiments and admiration for John Ausonius.[14] Just like Ausonius, Mangs had an immigrant background himself via a father born in Närpes, Finland.[15] Mangs professed to feel alienated and frustrated with society. His lawyers argued that he had Asperger syndrome.[16] Mangs suspected that he had the disorder since at least 2005, when he joined an association for people with Asperger syndrome, and was formally diagnosed in May 2009.[17] He had a very high score of 19 on the Autistic Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS).[18]
Mangs was found guilty on two counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder, and given a life sentence.[19] The Scania and Blekinge Court of Appeal denied an attempt by Mangs to overturn his sentence, convicting him of an additional three attempted murders, on 25 April 2013.[20] A further request for appeal was denied by the Supreme Court in June of the same year.[21]
The following shootings have been connected to the same suspect:[22][23][24][25]