Chris Bevington, a Briton who was one of four people killed in the Stockholm truck attack, was a “talented, compassionate and caring son”, his father said after news of his death emerged on Sunday.

Bevington, 41, died along with two Swedes and a Belgian when a truck mowed down pedestrians in a busy shopping district of the Swedish capital on Friday.

Based in Stockholm with his family, he worked as a director with music streaming service Spotify.

“We are all devastated by the untimely and tragic death of our talented, compassionate and caring son Chris,” John Bevington said in a statement.

“A wonderful husband, son, father, brother and close friend to many. The family requests absolute privacy at this incredibly difficult time to mourn his passing in peace.”

Spotify’s founder, Daniel Ek, paid tribute to Bevington, saying: “Chris has been a member of our band for more than five years. He has had a great impact on not just the business, but on everyone who had the privilege to know and work with him.



“There are no words for how missed he will be or for how sad we all are to have lost him like this. While this terrible news is sinking in, our primary focus is on supporting the family and loved ones of Chris in any way we possibly can.”

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: “We are supporting his family in Sweden and in the UK. Our thoughts are with them and all those affected at this terrible time. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with Sweden as they deal with this tragedy.”

One of the two Swedish victims was an 11-year-old girl on her way home from school. She had spoken to her mother just minutes earlier and agreed to meet her in the subway.



It was their last conversation. There followed hours of anguish for the family after the girl didn’t show up, but police could not identify her body without DNA samples.

A 31-year-old Belgian woman, visiting Stockholm as a tourist, also died.

Police revealed on Sunday that they had been searching for the suspect in the attack, a 39-year-old Uzbek arrested on “reasonable suspicion of terrorist homicide”, since February.

In 2014, he had applied for a residence permit in Sweden, but last summer the application was rejected and he faced expulsion. In February, police were instructed to carry out the deportation. But he had disappeared.

On 24 February they put out a description of the man, whose case was one of 10,000 being processed for deportation at the time. His application was handled “in accordance with normal procedures”, police told a press conference.

“If we do not know where they are, we can not enforce the expulsion,” national police commander Jonas Hysing said.

After speaking to the suspect’s lawyer, local media named the man as Rakhmat Akilov, a father of four.

“It makes me extremely frustrated – iIf you have you been turned down, leave the country,” prime minister Stefan Löfven told a conference of the ruling Social Democratic party on Sunday.

Some 24,000 people were deported last year after Sweden accepted 163,000 asylum seekers in 2015. When other European countries refused to open their doors in the same way, Sweden brought in strict border controls, leading to only 30,000 asylum applications last year. But it also pledged to return people to their home countries if their asylum applications were rejected.

Löfven is under pressure to take a hard stance on immigration. He faces elections next year with his party well down in polls, and the far-right Sweden Democrats vying with the centre-right Conservatives to be the largest opposition party.



“Sweden will not return to the situation we had in autumn 2015. Never,” Löfven said. “All who are refused must return home.”

The news that the suspect had been sought by police emerged as tens of thousands of people gathered at the site of the attack to observe a minute’s silence at 2.53pm, the time of the attack. The area has become a shrine where people have laid huge quantities of flowers.

Very clear message from the good people of #Stockholm amazing response by all involved. pic.twitter.com/T4MIH003CQ — Mark Forrest (@Obidoc) April 9, 2017

Police operations continued, with a further arrest in Sollentuna, a northern suburb, on Sunday morning on suspicion of involvement in the attack. More than 500 people had been interviewed, police said, adding that the main suspect had expressed sympathy for IS (Isis) and other extreme organisations.

Police are closely cooperating with Sweden’s security service, SÄPO, and with international police services Europol and Interpol, and are continuing to work on people of interest to the investigation, they said.

Meanwhile, the department store Åhléns, where the truck came to a stop after its bloody rampage, was criticised after it advertised that it would sell smoke-damaged goods at half price.

Many demanded on its Facebook page that the proceeds should be donated to families of the victims. The company has issued an apology.







