Police on the scene next to parts of the extensive cordon on Tuesday in central Skellefteå. The grey car is also a police vehicle.
At 01:30 on Tuesday morning a police patrol in central Skellefteå sends out a call for backup.
– A person with stab or cut wounds was found. At closer inspection it turned out that there were three injured persons in the direct vicinity, Fredrik Nilsson, police inspector on duty, reported early on Tuesday morning.
All of the injured persons are men in their 20s.
An hour after the patrol found the first injured man, an arrest of a man was made in another outdoor location in central Skellefteå. He is also in his 20s.
At 10:30 on Tuesday morning prosecutor Stina Stener told Norran that she had decided to detain the man, suspected with probable cause for three cases of attempted murder.
– What more I can say about this is that a shorter interrogation has been held with the suspect on the Tuesday morning. I will now issue an order for Skellefteå District Court to appoint a defence counsel for the man, she said.
On the Tuesday morning a large area around Hörnellgatan in central Skellefteå was cordoned off with the police's blue-white plastic cordon. Inside the cordon, bloody traces in the snow bore witness to the violence of the previous night. Later that day the cordons were taken down.
At around 16:00 a second questioning was held with the detained 20-year old.
The location was the police station in Skellefteå, next to him the man had his public defendant Mikael Stenman.
Mikael Stenman tells Norran:
– A shorter interrogation was held, the police asked the questions they had planned to ask, then the questioning was over. I had possibly expected a longer interrogation considering how well-reported the case has been in the mass media.
Lawyer Mikael Stenman is the detained 20-year old's defence counsel.
What does he say about the accusation of three cases of attempted murder?
– He denies it. At the present time I don’t want to say much more.
But has he admitted being at the location, acted in self-defence or any other actual circumstances where there is no discussion about the facts?
– Without giving any answers to that question I can state that one person is suspected and three persons are injured parties, it is somewhat of a strange situation that I can't completely fathom. However, secrecy during the preliminary investigation prevails, says Mikael Stenman.
The questioning was held at the police station: your client is not receiving care for any injuries sustained after the event?
– No, he is not receiving hospital care.
He admits that he has been in the area?
– Yes, he has been in the area in central Skellefteå, he has visited the nightclub in question on a few occasions during the evening. He has also given people a ride in a car during the evening and stayed sober, and he has been able to account for what has happened and what he has done.
The violent drama occurred early on Tuesday morning in central Skellefteå, close to the corner of Storgatan and Hörnellgatan. There were traces of blood in a number of places and prosecutor Jonas Fjellström confirms that the victims were subjected to extensive and gross violence.
It is prosecutor Jonas Fjellström, Luleå, who is head of the preliminary investigation.
He tells Norran:
– The person who is suspected of three cases of attempted murder is still detained and the suspicion of crime remains the same.
What is the status of the three victims of crime?
– Two have left hospital while the third is still receiving hospital care. All are assessed to have received serious but not life-threatening injuries. They have all been subjected to serious violence with at least one sharp object. The person still in hospital sustained the most serious injuries.
What happens now in the investigation?
– We are in a very intensive stage of the investigation and we have made some headway. One of many important parts of the investigation is to question everyone who in any way have information to share about the event.
Prosecutor Jonas Fjellström leads the preliminary investigation about three cases of attempted murder which occurred in central Skellefteå early Tuesday morning.
– A general request to the public remains: if you know something, have seen or heard anything that can be connected to the events in central Skellefteå that evening and night, we want you to contact the police. All information is valuable, let the police decide whether it’s important or not, Jonas Fjellström continues.
Why did the violent act happen?
– We think we have a motive but at this stage I cannot give any details. But there is currently nothing to suggest that there are any further people involved, neither suspects nor injured parties.
Jonas Fjellström adds:
– We make the assessment that it is a completely isolated event. There are no signs of it being a drug deal and there are no connections to any local criminal groups.
Jonas Fjellström says that it was not a particularly lengthy course of events when the three attempted murders occurred and that the detained 20-year old and the three injured parties seem to have been in the same place.
Why was a car seized, did the 20-year old escape from the scene in it?
– What I can say is that there are reasons to believe that there are traces and evidence in the vehicle. I cannot comment on whose car it is.
The prosecutor does not want to comment further on how the arrest happened but the 20-year old was arrested less than an hour after the violent attack “at a location other than the scene of the crime”.
Is it the victims of the crime who point out the perpetrator, which explains how the 20-year old could be arrested to quickly?
– What I can say is the police very quickly gained a clear picture of who were injured parties and who the suspect was, based on information given from different directions. There are also people who was alleged witnesses of the event, says Jonas Fjellström.
There is information about parts of the event being filmed?
– That is a detail that I cannot comment on, says Jonas Fjellström.
Lawyer Jens Nyström has been appointed one of three counsels for an injured party in the preliminary investigation into the triple attempted murders in central Skellefteå. ”My client feels well considering the circumstances”, says Jens Nyström.
On the Wednesday Skellefteå District Court has appointed three counsels for an injured party for the three victims of crime who were subject to the suspected attempted murder on Tuesday morning.
Lawyer Jens Nyström represents one of the men, all in their 20s, who was attacked.
– I participated in a questioning at around 8 AM on Wednesday morning together with my client at the police station. It was the first questioning I have participated in.
How is your client feeling?
– You could say that he, considering the circumstances, feels well even though he of course has been affected by the event and the violence he was subjected to, Jens Nyström says.
What happened that night, how was your client attacked?
– There is secrecy during the preliminary investigation, I cannot give any comments.
Lawyers Linda Sundlöf and Urban Rönnblom have also been appointed counsels for an injured party. They say that they do not want to comment at present.