Stockholm: A 38-year-old man has been taken into custody on suspicion of being behind a series of possibly racially motivated shootings in southern Sweden, police said on Sunday.
Police said the man is being held on suspicion of murder and seven other shootings over the past year in the city of Malmo, which has a large immigrant population.
Sweden prides itself on tolerance, but September`s general election gave the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrat party its first seats in Parliament, reigniting debate on the generous policies toward foreigners who want to settle in the Nordic country.
"We haven`t gone into the motive yet," Police Commissioner Borje Sjoholm said at a news conference about the arrest. "But what all the shootings have in common is that all those who have been shot have immigrant backgrounds."
The man has denied any wrongdoing.
Police have been investigating 15 shootings, one fatal, in Malmo over the past year. In October this year, police said the shootings could be racially motivated.
Bureau Report
