Photo credit: Solcansergiu | Dreamstime.com

At least 3 people are dead and scores injured after an apparent terrorist stole a beer truck and plowed to through a busy Stockholm shopping area.

The attack on innocent people has occurred in the Drottninggata area of Stockholm just before 13:00GMT. A large truck plowed through a crowd of people near a busy shopping center injuring several people and killing three.

With immigrants and refugees flooding into Europe at an unprecedented rate, many lack the resources to meet basic needs. Those people with radical ideas may be desperate and willing to lash out with any weapon at their disposal. The attack is unlikely to be an organized attack by radical groups but rather appears to be executed by an individual acting alone at this time.

The attack gives the impression of desperation as a vehicle has not historically been effective means of harming many people but rather seems to be a desperate attempt to lash out and hurt others perhaps out of frustration. However, very little is known at this time about the actual suspect and motives for this crime.

With no other weapons at an attackers disposal, a vehicle can be made into a 3-ton projectile and with little to no warning, it would be an unexpected assault on pedestrians. Jan Granroth was a witness to the violent event and described the scene, "We stood inside a shoe store and heard something … and then people started to scream, I looked out of the store and saw a big truck."

The Swedish Prime Minister has publicly indicated that the event appears to be a terror attack and one suspect has been arrested at this time. The attack was carried out with a beer truck, one that was reported stolen earlier on Friday. It is likely the perpetrator stole the truck shortly before carrying out the attack. The suspect drove the truck at high speed through a pedestrian zone before smashing into a department store and catching fire.

The method of attack appears to be growing in frequency as just last month a man drove a car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge killing four people before stabbing a policeman to death. That suspect was shot by police and was unable to be detained alive. Unlike the London attack, it appears at this time that the perpetrator of this heinous act is now in custody.

Sources:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/04/sweden-truck-ploughs-stockholm-department-store-170407134134487.html

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/terror-stockholm-truck-rams-crowd-10178926

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