The driver of the truck which ploughed into pedestrians in an apparent terror attack on one of Stockholm’s busiest shopping streets, killing four people and injuring 15 others has been arrested.
The man was arrested on Friday. “The person in question has been arrested as the culprit … in this case the driver,” police spokesman Lars Bystrom said.
“Then, there can be other people who are associated with him, but we do not know that at the current time.”
The man was detained in a northern Stockholm suburb on Friday and later arrested on suspicion of having committed a terrorist crime.
Swedish public broadcaster SVT reported police had detained a second man in the northern suburb of Hjulsta and he had a connection to the previously arrested person, citing police sources.
The police declined to comment on whether it had arrested any additional suspects but said others were being sought.
Police said earlier after the attack that they had detained the man who “matched the description” of a photo released of a suspect wearing a dark hoodie and military green jacket. But they did not confirm if he drove the truck.
According to the Aftonbladet newspaper, the same man is a 39-year-old of Uzbek origin and a supporter of the Islamic State (IS) terror group.
Swedish police said on their website early on Saturday they had placed the man confirmed to be detained under prolonged arrest.
Earlier Swedish police said they were also interviewing two people in relation to the deadly truck attack in Stockholm’s main shopping strip. It is not clear if they are separate to the two males that have been arrested.
“I can confirm that we have taken in two people for questioning, but that does not necessarily mean that they are suspects,” police spokesman Lars Bystrom said.
“We want to talk to everybody who knows anything about this and sometimes it’s better to talk at the police station than place of event.”
A national police chief, Stefan Hector, said the police’s “working hypothesis is that this is a terror attack.” A homemade bomb was discovered in the truck which was used in the attack, it was revealed today.
Police bomb disposal experts found the improvised explosive device packed into a suitcase inside the hijacked beer truck.
The discovery of the bomb points to a planned terror attack rather than an opportunistic attack. It is not known why the IED failed to detonate.
