SWEDEN: Police have arrested a 17-year-old boy over suspicion of his involvement in murder of a police official, the first such incident in Sweden during last 14 years.

A police officer was shot to death in Biskopsgården, Gothenburg, on Wednesday evening.

The police arrested the teenager on Friday afternoon, who claimed that he was innocent. Police are still clueless as to why the policeman was shot dead and they believe that it was someone else whom the murderer wanted to target. “Nor it’s about a hatred of police,” they said.

“We think that our colleague became a target in fight between two different gangs,” said police officer Teodor Smedius while talking to journalists. Prosecutor Ulrika Åberg said more people might be arrested in the future.

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This is the third murder case of a police official in 20 years in Sweden. Only two other such incidents have taken place during this time.

On the flip side, a Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention report said Sweden had one of the highest number of fatal shootings in 22 European countries and that no other country had seen as swift an increase as Sweden.