It was in the afternoon of July 1 that police were alerted to the district of Mariehem in Umeå after a suspected gunshot. Police secured findings for technical evidence that confirmed that a gunshot had taken place and had suspicions against a person. However, this freedom was never deprived.
A little over a month later, the night of August 10, a man was forced into a car by four other men at Hammarby Heights in Stockholm. Then followed a journey south towards Eskilstuna during which the man was pressed for money by his perpetrators.
When the police noticed the car, three of the men fled, including a 20-year-old Umea resident, while the driver, a 19-year-old Umea resident, was arrested directly at the scene. The 20-year-old remained free until September 13 when police announced that he had also been arrested, after they had been released earlier this week.
"Suspects a link"The four men are now in custody in Stockholm on suspicion of human trafficking, and now the police also link them with the shooting at Mariehem, when one of the men lives in the area.
- We suspect a connection. In the coming weeks, police from serious crimes in Umeå will go down to hear the men and also suspect them of this crime, says Andreas Nyberg, chamber prosecutor.
The fact that the police are open to suspicion of the men is because they are already detained and therefore do not risk communicating with each other or others in a way that could damage the investigation.
How do you assess the status of the investigation?
- I rate it as good. Now the next step is that they should be given suspicion and heard and after that we can decide whether the preliminary investigation should proceed.