Knife attack at Ikea store in Sweden leaves two dead
This article is more than 8 years oldMan arrested on suspicion of murder after another person is seriously injured in incident in Västerås, about an hour west of Stockholm
Two people have been killed and one seriously injured in a knife attack at an Ikea store in Västerås, a city about an hour west of the Swedish capital, Stockholm.
Police said they received a call reporting injuries at the store at about 1pm local time. A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. Police have not ruled out the possibility that he had an accomplice.
Västmanland police said in a statement: “We found a man and a woman who had knife injuries and who later died of their wounds.”
A 35 year-old man was seriously injured, Swedish television reported. Lena Moren, the head duty nurse at Västerås hospital, told the public broadcaster SVT: “He was brought in from the site of the incident with life-threatening injuries.”
Police officers cordoned off the Ikea store and began interviewing witnesses. The victims were “three seemingly ordinary visitors” who were stabbed as they browsed the kitchen accessories department, the store’s manager, Mattias Johansson, told the Swedish newspaper VLT.
In a statement to the press made from outside the entrance, he said: “You’re talking to a guy who right now might have their worst day ever on the job but also as a human being.
“I can tell you that we have two people who have been confirmed dead on the spot and one seriously injured. I have many colleagues who are unwell but it is also important to say that no employee is injured.
“We are now focused on taking care of customers and employees who may have been witnesses, but also other employees. Then we or the police come when we know something more. It is a terrible day, and my thoughts go to the families of those affected by what has happened.”
Yvette Severin was in the store’s restaurant with her sister when they heard that something had happened. She told the Swedish newspaper Ekuriren: “We heard that someone has been stabbed inside the kitchen area but it was someone other than the people seen lying on the stretchers. So it was not just one.”
She said she had to pass through a police cordon before she was able to leave the shopping complex where the outlet is located.
SVT showed pictures of one person being loaded into an ambulance while hundreds of shoppers stood outside the cordoned-off store wearing shorts and summer clothes in bright sunshine.
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