The power vacuum in the underworld behind the new wave of violence

It is the morning before lucia in Malmö. No wind for once, a clear blue sky. Around Möllevångstorget passes lemmings jumping off a cliff of adults and children in all directions. Some go, many bikes. They are on the way to nursery, school and job. The clock has just passed eight. But so bounce the sound of shots between the houses on the South Skolgatan. First one, then several. A masked man is seen leaving the place in the car. Left on the pavement in the vicinity of a föräldrakooperativ, is a man, rattling and with the blood gushing out of his forehead.

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Around the police's blue-and-white barrier tape gathered a lot of people and it won't be long until the rumor is about who the person in question is.

”So he says! He was shot in his Jaguar this year”, exclaims a middle-aged man in the crowd.

”Yes, over there it was”, pointing to another.

many in the know. At the hospital, found the man soon died.

A day later confirming the police what many already know. The victim in this year's twelfth dödsskjutning in the city is a 51-year-old man and influential leader in Malmö's underworld. During the last decade he has been involved in a variety of criminal investigations – sometimes as victims, often as the suspected perpetrators.

the Police on site at the place where the 51-year-old was shot. Photo: Anders Hansson

" He has been the victim of attempted murder in the past and been well aware that he lived in a very exposed environment. What we saw yesterday was a pure execution. These are individuals who are completely ruthless and their aim is to take the life of another.

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, head of the police utredningsenhet south region, sitting with clasped hands in the conference room, the Lamp on the Rättscentrum and respond obligingly on the journalists ' questions. The daily pressträffen usually consist of a quick spin of the latest daily events in the town. This morning, overshadowing the murder of Möllevången everything else.

the Shooting is the culmination of a time of escalated violence in the city. In november, reached a peak of firings this year: nine confirmed skottdåd.

the First half of december has not been much better. Six shootings and four explosions are the answers so far. In addition to the murder at the Mill the day before lucia, shooting at a pizzeria in the neighbourhood of Värnhem received a lot of attention. It occurred on the evening of 2 december when a 16-year-old boy was hit by three bullets.

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Inside the pizzeria were at the time several other people, including a baby and a seven year old child.

depends escalation, paradoxically, that the police in recent times have seized many heavy gängkriminella in the city and that, therefore, there has arisen an intense power struggle in Malmö over the world.

– In June, we had six shootings in the space of two weeks, including trippelmordet outside a nätkafé.

A number of bullets hit the windows of the café at the trippelmordet on 18 June. Photo: Anders Hansson

After it took regionpolischefen decision that the police would work especially with the firings on the open street. Since then, police have arrested forty people, of whom twenty are now sitting in custody suspected of murder and attempt to murder.

– What happens when we grabs so many people is that there will be any form of power vacuum where the other wants to take over and show what they can do.

in the year occurred on the open street in the lively, central parts of Malmö think Petra Stenkula, inter alia because victims often been vigilant people aware of their vulnerability.

– When you want to murder a difficult person, as in Wednesday's shooting, so you take greater risks, " she says.

Should you be afraid to stay out in Malmö now?

Patrik Andersson, a commissioner at the police underrättelsesektion, do not like it.

– the Fact is that the number of firings has declined by twenty per cent in the year compared with the past two years, while the number of explosions has been cut in half. The number of injured at the shootings have also decreased radically, which is a sign that you are no longer shooting spontaneously, " he says.

the shooting deaths to skyrocket in 2018. It is, says Patrik Andersson, can be interpreted as that the shots are directed towards the people that you ”de facto hits”.

" I would not express it so, but the risk to the third person, the damage is marginal, yes.

the Tightening of border controls in the past year have made it difficult to smuggle in weapons. In parallel, the new legislation when it comes to serious vapenbrott which entered into force at the end of the year, made that there are fewer weapons in circulation. People who are caught with a firearm will now get automatically arrested.

– It makes fewer moves outdoors with weapons, " says Patrik Andersson, another reason that the public should not feel insecure.

at Malmö university, do not think, either, that there is reason for concern. The risk that the third party would be affected is very small, even if it is available.

– if you Live or are staying in places where it pushed a lot – in Malmö, these are areas that the police classified as vulnerable, and the Mill – then the risk is a little higher. Then I think, unfortunately, that the risk depends on who you are. A young man with an immigrant background, for example, can be mistaken to be part of a criminal network, but I can't prove it is so, " he says.

Many of these people know that they will die in the criminal environment.

According to the Malmöpolisen, there are currently around 200 gängkriminella in the city, the majority of young men between the ages of 16-23. According to the police, has 30-40 of these in the autumn, has shown interest to jump off. This has several authorities close cooperation, inter alia, was launched earlier in the year it drew the attention of the method ”Stop slide”, which will prevent shootings and where authorities offer help to those who want to jump off of.

– Many of these people know that they will die in the criminal environment, or so, they end up in prison. The challenge is that they from the beginning have chosen to live outside of society, they have no good role models and often they find themselves in a difficult social situation where you have to break with their old life. It is tough for many, " says Petra Stenkula.

on Möllevången have been concerned. The night to Thursday burned four taxis with a link to the murdered taxi companies and early on Friday morning shot at a townhouse in the south of Malmö.

Police are investigating if there is any connection between the recent events in the city, but think it is too early to make some connections. At the same time as the investigation is underway are you prepared for new acts of violence.

" We have järnkoll on what these people are, who they collaborate with and where they are moving. We will lock them in. At the same time, we know that the risk of retaliation is great. There will be new shootings, there will be new murders, " says Petra Stenkula.

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