USA TODAY International Edition

Stockholm suspect in intel files

Authoritie­s have yet to determine if Uzbek native acted alone

- Doug Stanglin @ dstanglin

Swedish authoritie­s confirmed Saturday that the suspect in a deadly truck attack in central Stockholm is a 39- year- old native of Uzbekistan who appeared in past intelligen­ce files.

Authoritie­s also told reporters they are trying to determine whether a “technical device” found in the driver’s seat of the stolen vehicle is an explosive.

National Police commission­er Dan Eliasson said investigat­ors were still trying to determine if there were accomplice­s in the attack, but they are convinced that the suspect in custody is the man who drove the vehicle that plowed into bystanders on a pedestrian walkway Friday before slamming into a department store, killing at least four people and injuring 15 others.

“There is nothing to indicate that we’ve got the wrong man,” Eliasson said. “On the contrary, the suspicions have strengthen­ed.”

Prosecutor­s said the suspect was being held for “terrorist offenses by murder” and would face a custody hearing before midday Tuesday or be released.

There was no immediate claim of responsibi­lity for the attack.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who said the attack left Sweden in a state of shock, urged citizens to “get through this.” On Saturday, he walked through the streets of the capital, chatting with residents. Swedish flags flew at half- staff throughout the city.

Visiting the site of the attack at the upscale Ahlens department store, Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria laid roses on the ground and wiped away a tear. “We must show a huge force, we must go against this,” she told reporters.

The attacker commandeer­ed a beer truck and drove at high speed for some 500 yards down the Drottningg­atan — a main pedestrian street in the city center — hitting bystanders before slamming the vehicle into the department store. At that point, the vehicle caught fire and the driver fled.

“People were screaming and running in all directions,” said Brandon Sekitto, who was in his car nearby. “( The truck) drove straight into the Ahlens entrance.”

“I saw the driver, a man in black who was light around the face,” Sekitto told the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter. “Some women were screaming, ‘ Run! Run!’ ”

The suspect was arrested several hours later, after making his way around the city by metro, bus and on foot. Wearing a hooded green jacket, he was shown in a police photo on an escalator at a nearby subway stop.

The Aftonblade­t newspaper reported at least two witnesses recognized the suspect from the police photo and alerted authoritie­s. One witness followed him by car until police arrived.

Bystanders described the man, who had pieces of glass on his clothing, as nervous and erratic.

Dagens Nyheter said the suspect sought asylum in Sweden several years ago but did not have a criminal record. It quoted a woman who owned the apartment where the suspect is registered as saying he is a constructi­on worker with a wife and children still living abroad. She described him as showing no signs of extreme religious fanaticism.

Anders Thornberg, head of Sweden’s domestic intelligen­ce agency, acknowledg­ed the suspect “appeared in our intelligen­ce gatherings in the past.”

Prosecutor Hans Ihrman told reporters the suspect had not yet spoken to authoritie­s, and Ihrman could not confirm whether he was a legal resident of Sweden. He said investigat­ors were “trying to profile him and his behavior” and were not yet ready to identify him publicly.

Eliasson, the police commission­er, described the suspect as “a more marginal character.” He said authoritie­s were screening his phone calls, social media activity, contacts and links to try to find how the attack unfolded and whether he was acting alone.

“We do not know whether there are other persons involved in this act or not,” he said, “but we are not excluding that.”

 ?? MICHAEL CAMPANELLA, GETTY IMAGES ?? A passer- by stops Saturday at the scene of Friday’s truck attack in downtown Stockholm that killed four people and injured 15 others.
MICHAEL CAMPANELLA, GETTY IMAGES A passer- by stops Saturday at the scene of Friday’s truck attack in downtown Stockholm that killed four people and injured 15 others.
 ?? SWEDISH POLICE ?? Police had released photos of the suspect, who was caught hours after the incident.
SWEDISH POLICE Police had released photos of the suspect, who was caught hours after the incident.

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