2 dead, many injured in Sweden restaurant shooting

Several people were shot inside a restaurant in the city of Goteborg and at least two of them have died, Swedish police said.

Police said in a statement that an automatic weapon is believed to have been used in the shooting. They had no details on any suspects but said several people had been brought in for questioning.

The shooting happened in the Biskopsgarden suburb of Goteborg, Sweden’s second largest city. The neighbourhood has a history of gang violence, said police spokeswoman Ulla Brehm.

She said it was too early to speculate on the motive but said there were indications that the shooting was gang-related.

“There is absolutely nothing that indicates terrorism,” Ms. Brehm said.

Ms. Brehm said at least two people were killed at the scene and several others taken to a hospital.

One witness told Swedish broadcaster SVT that two men entered the restaurant and started shooting with automatic weapons.

“I didn’t have a chance to think about what happened. Then I saw that my friend was bleeding. I tried to stop the bleeding as well as I could with my hand,” said the witness, who didn’t give his name.

Police said the shooting happened inside a restaurant called Var Krog och Bar, which means “our tavern and bar” in Swedish. According to its website, the restaurant opened in 1995 and also has a sports bar and a night club that’s open on Fridays and Saturdays.

On January 30, 2015, a man was wounded in a shooting on the square outside the restaurant. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the shootings were linked.

Gun violence is not uncommon in Sweden’s major cities, though shootings in public places with multiple victims are rare.

“The problems are the same here in Sweden as internationally,” Ms. Brehm said.