4 killed in Stockholm truck attack described as terrorism
STOCKHOLM — A hijacked beer truck plowed into pedestrians at a central Stockholm department store on Friday, killing four people, wounding 15 others and sending screaming shoppers fleeing in panic in what Sweden’s prime minister called a terrorist attack.
Nearby buildings were locked down for hours in the heart of the capital — including the country’s parliament — and the main train station and several large malls were evacuated.
Officials announced flags at government offices would fly at half-mast Saturday to honor the victims.
Police arrested a man in Marsta, a northern Stockholm suburb close to the city’s international airport, as a possible suspect.
The stolen beer truck traveled for more than 500 yards along a main pedestrian street known as the Drottninggatan before it smashed into a crowd outside the upscale Ahlens department store about 3 p.m. It came to rest in the entrance to the building.
Jan Evensson of the Stockholm police told a news conference that the man who was arrested looked like the person depicted wearing a greenish hood in a surveillance camera photo that police released earlier.
The Swedish brewery Spendrups said one of its trucks had been hijacked just a few blocks from the crash scene earlier Friday.