Eight people are injured after ‘terrorist’ stabbing in Sweden, police say 

Eight people have been wounded in a suspected terrorist attack in Sweden.

The suspect, a man in his 20s, was shot in the leg and rushed to hospital after launching his attack at around 3pm on Wednesday in Vetlanda, a small town in the country’s south.

Three of his victims suffered life-threatening injuries, while another two were said to be in a ‘serious condition.’

Local media gave conflicting reports that the assailant used either a knife or an axe.  

Witness footage shows an ambulance and police officers at the scene on Wednesday in Vetlanda

Police investigators work at the scene where a man attacked eight people with a ‘sharp weapon’ in the Swedish town of Vetlanda on Wednesday

The assailant’s motive remains unclear but police said they are treating it as a ‘suspected terrorist crime.’ 

Local resident Olivia Strandberg told broadcaster SVT she didn’t see the actual attack but witnessed the man being taken away, from her window just as she returned home from work.

‘I had just gotten to my apartment when my best friend wrote me and said: Don’t go out!,’ Strandberg said, with the broadcaster showing footage of the suspect being taken away in an ambulance on a quiet street.

Local police chief Jonas Lindell told media they had identified five different crime scenes, a few hundred yards apart, in the small town of around 13,000 residents.

Lindell said the suspect was a resident of the area and previously known to police, but in the past had only been suspected of ‘petty crimes.’

He declined to say if the man was a Swedish citizen.

The extent of his injuries were also unknown but police said they believed they would be able question him.  

Prime Minister Stefan Löfven condemned the attack as he sent his condolences to the victims and their families.

‘Tonight I am thinking of those injured in Vetlanda and their relatives. I condemn this horrific violence. We are facing these heinous acts with the collective power of society,’ the PM said in a written statement.

The attack took place at around 3pm on Wednesday in the small town of Vetlanda in southern Sweden

Minister of the Interior Mikael Damberg called the attack ‘terrible.’ 

The government minister said: ‘Several people are seriously injured. These are terrible events and my thoughts go to the victims and their relatives.

‘Right now it is unclear exactly what happened and what the motive was. The police have arrested a suspected perpetrator and have initiated a special incident to handle the development of the incident and create security in Vetlanda.’ 

Swedish intelligence services consider the terrorist threat to be high.

The Scandinavian country has been targeted twice by attacks in recent years.

In December 2010, a man carried out a suicide bomb attack in the centre of Stockholm. He died after only slightly injuring passers-by.

In April 2017, a rejected and radicalised Uzbek asylum seeker mowed down pedestrians in Stockholm with a stolen truck, killing five people. He was sentenced to life in prison.