Man Goes On Stabbing Rampage In Sweden, Severely Wounding 7

The small Swedish town of Vetlanda was roused Wednesday afternoon after reports of a stabbing incident had left seven individuals injured. The suspect in the attack is a 22-year-old Afghan who arrived in the country seeking asylum in 2018 while awaiting a decision on his residence permit.

Authorities received a call on Wednesday shortly before 3 pm that several people had been attacked with an "axe" near Bangårdsgatan. Responding police patrols arrived at the scene 10 minutes later where they found seven people injured at several locations - including a grocery store and a travel agency. The attacker was shot in the leg by police at the scene and was arrested outside a school.

Police investigators and prosecutors are investigating the case to determine if the incident should be treated as attempted murder, however they are not ruling out potential terror motives due to emerging information about the attack.

Deputy Regional Police Chief Carina Lennquist said "as far as we know, there is no connection between the perpetrator and the victims".

The suspect, who has not been named by authorities, is said to be a resident of the area and previously known to police. He had been involved in petty crimes including small-scale cannabis use, the BBC wrote.

In a press conference on Thursday, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven called it an "attack on innocent people" but noted the investigation remained an attempted murder probe.

France24 News said three of the individuals attacked were reported to have suffered life-threatening injuries, but are now in stable condition, while two others remain in serious condition.

On Wednesday night, authorities conducted a search at the man's home along with other linked addresses of the suspect.

Public prosecutor Adam Rullman stressed the investigation was still classified as "attempted murder," but that it was in its early stages and the focus was on determining what exactly had occurred.

In the event of the attack being designated as a terrorist crime it would be handled by a special unit within the Prosecution Authority.

With thousands of young Afghans who have travelled to Sweden to seek asylum in recent years, Swedish intelligence services say the possibility of an Islamist extremist attack is highly considered, citing that the country had been targeted by a suicide bomb attack in December 2010 and in April 2017 when an Uzbek aslyum seeker ran over pedestrians with a stolen truck killing five people.