Two suspects in a knife attack at an Ikea store in Sweden that left two dead are Eritrean asylum seekers, one of whom is in critical condition, police said on Tuesday.
The motive for Monday’s attack in the central town of Vasteras was still unknown, Swedish Deputy Prosecutor General Eva Moren told reporters.
“The two suspects are both from Eritrea. They have been living at an asylum center,” she said, adding that the pair knew each other.
“We know nothing about the motive yet, the investigation will have to determine that,” Moren said.
The suspects’ identities were not disclosed.
The two people killed were a 55-year-old woman and her 28-year-old son, both from the northern Swedish town of Skelleftea, Moren said.
One of the suspects, aged 23, has denied any involvement in the attacks.
The other suspect, born in 1979, remained in hospital in critical condition and underwent a second operation on Tuesday for stab wounds.
Police have not disclosed how he sustained his injuries.
“He was stable overnight, but he is still in critical condition,” said Eva Lindahl, a spokeswoman for the regional healthcare authority.
He has not yet been interrogated by police, Moren said.
The two suspects were arrested on Monday shortly after the attack. The 23-year-old was wrestled to the ground by police at a bus stop outside Ikea, while the other was found with stab wounds inside the store.
Police remained tightlipped about the investigation.
Vasteras police chief Per Agren told reporters there were “no political overtones.”
Moren said police had uncovered “no connection between the suspects and the victims.”
Police investigators have recovered the suspected murder weapons from the scene, but Moren would not specify how many.
“Knives have been found at the scene,” she said.
Police sources quoted by regional daily Vestmanlands Lans Tidning said the suspects “appear to have used knives from Ikea’s shelves.”
The Ikea store in Vasteras, about 100km west of Stockholm, said it would temporarily halt knife sales.
“This is a decision I’ve taken and it is temporary,” store manager Mattias Johansson told news agency TT, adding that the retailer was to reopen yesterday after being closed since the incident.
Moren said she would soon be reviewing video footage from the store’s many surveillance cameras and reading the witness accounts of the incident to get a clearer picture of what happened.
“The store was busy, there was a large number of people in the store,” Agren said.
Police increased security at asylum centers across Sweden for fear of reprisals, including at the center where the two suspects resided in Arboga, about 50km from Vasteras.
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