Sweden: Residency rejected for suspect before Ikea attack

Immediately after the attack by the newly arrived migrants, who shared a room in a government asylum shelter and had only arrived in the country less than four weeks before, Swedish police rushed to protect migrant communities from “dark forces in society”.

The store has temporarily stopped selling knives following the killings.

“This is a decision I’ve taken and it is temporary”, store manager Mattias Johansson told news agency TT, adding that the store would reopen on Wednesday morning.

Police officers attend the Ikea store in Vasteras, Sweden, Monday August 10, 2015, after three people were injured in a knife attack at the store.

A mother and her adult son – described as “ordinary shoppers” – died at the scene.

The Migration Agency said the 35-year-old Eritrean-born man, who was living in an asylum center, had met to discuss his case with agency staff hours before Monday’s attack in the city of Vasteras, 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of the capital Stockholm.

Two men from Eritrea, aged 23 and 35, are suspected of the stabbing. The main suspect has not been questioned because of surgery for unspecified severe injuries.

Two Eritrean asylum-seekers have been arrested on suspicion of murder, but police said Tuesday that the motive for the attack was still unknown.

“It is an act of madness”, Mr Agren was quoted as saying. They have declined to comment if one or several knives was used, or if they were from IKEA’s stock.