Last year, nine boys aged 15-17 were convicted of murder or attempted murder.

Ten years ago, there was only one convict of the same age.

Even prosecutions against 15-17-year-olds for those crimes have increased significantly in recent years, according to statistics from the Public Prosecutor's Office. 

Although not all prosecutions and sentences have to do with criminal conflicts, the researchers believe that it is connected, because firearm violence and more and more young convicts are increasing at the same time.

A youth phenomenon 

Firearm violence is a youth phenomenon where a relatively small group of young people with access to firearms try to make a criminal career and earn a lot of money from drugs, according to Sven Granath.

- You fight for market shares, get debts to each other and regulate it by force.

Young people are also hired as shooters by leaders in criminal networks for violent missions that the leaders do not want to carry out themselves.  

Technology and social factors come into play                           

Several factors are behind the development.

Smart phones have made it easier to acquire and distribute both weapons and drugs, hire executors for violent missions and plan criminal schemes.

But social factors also play a role, says Sven Granath.

An increased number of young people with risk factors, such as unsafe growing up conditions, failed schooling and association with many criminals, play a role.

Sven Granath says that young people with a foreign background are overrepresented in gun violence.

It is in that group that today you often find young people with many risk factors. 

For the spiral of violence to be broken, access to weapons must be cut off and more crimes solved, says Sven Granath. 

- Not only the shooters but also the project managers for the crimes must be held accountable and convicted.

In Malmö, for several years now, they have worked actively to persuade gang criminals to drop out and prevent young people from being drawn in.

When Malmö policeman Glen Sjögren meets the serious criminals, his message is crystal clear. 

- We don't want you to die.

We also don't want you to kill anyone.