Sweden can’t get its immense crime problem under control. Never before have so many people died from guns in a year. Now a youth is found shot dead. The government announces consequences.

A 16-year-old boy has been shot dead in Sweden. He was found lifeless on a bike path in the small town of Sandviken late Tuesday evening and was pronounced dead in hospital overnight, police said. A murder investigation has been launched and no one has been arrested. Sandviken is about 160 kilometers northwest of Stockholm.

Sweden has had a long-standing problem with criminal gangs, especially the gun-related crime they run. In 2022, more people were shot dead in the Scandinavian EU country than ever before in a year – the 16-year-old is at least the 54th fatality since the beginning of the year.

New Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has promised to give top priority to fighting serious crime and gangs. There will be new money and new laws for this, he announced in the morning in Parliament in Stockholm. Prevention should go hand in hand with fighting crime.