Terrorist rams truck into Stockholm store

UPDATE: Swedish police are confident they have arrested the man who carried out Friday’s deadly beer truck attack in Stockholm. The suspect, a 39-year-old native of Uzbekistan, had been on authorities’ radar previously.

Anders Thornberg, head of the Swedish Security Service, said, “The suspect didn’t appear in our recent files but he earlier has been in our files.”

Swedish police chief Dan Eliason said a device was found in the truck that “could be a bomb or an incendiary object. We are still investigating it.” Eliason added that authorities still do not know whether others were involved in the attack, but noted, “We cannot exclude this.”

Prosecutor Hans Ihrman said the suspect has not yet spoken to authorities, who could not confirm whether he is a legal resident of Sweden.

Flags flew at half-staff Saturday to commemorate the now reported four people killed and 15 wounded. Sweden’s health service said 10 people were still hospitalized, four of them with serious injuries. Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has declared Monday a national day of mourning.

UPDATE (04/07/17, 2:35 p.m.): The truck that crashed into an upscale department store in central Stockholm on Friday was a hijacked beer truck, according to Swedish Prime Minster Stefan Lofven. He called the crash, which killed at least two and injured many more, an “act of terror.” Broadcaster SVT said at least five people were killed and Swedish radio reported three dead, but police have not been able to confirm either report.

The truck drove onto Drottninggatan, a major shopping pedestrian street, and then crashed into the Ahlens department store around 3 p.m. Officials evacuated Stockholm’s central train station and halted all trains to and from the main station. Two large shopping malls have also been shut down. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, and police said no one has been arrested so far, contradicting earlier reports.

Swedish beer maker Spendrups said one of its delivery trucks was hijacked earlier Friday while the driver was unloading. Today’s terror attack is the first in Sweden since a botched 2010 attack by a Swedish citizen who detonated a suicide bomb in his car, killing himself and injuring two others, but it follows a streak of recent vehicle attacks in Europe. Last July, ISIS claimed responsibility for a truck attack that killed 86 people in Nice, France. Another truck attack killed 12 people during a Christmas market in Berlin. And most recently, five are dead after a March attack on London’s Westminster Bridge.

OUR EARLIER REPORT (04/07/17, 10:31 a.m.): A truck crashed into a department store in central Stockholm today in an apparent terror attack. At least two people died and many more were injured, local authorities said. Swedish broadcaster SVT said shots had been fired and people in the area were fleeing the scene. Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven confirmed the incident was a terror attack and said one person had been arrested.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.