Sweden is in a state of shock today after a father was shot dead in front of his son in a Stockholm suburb, with media reporting that he had a confrontation with a youth gang.

The country is at the mercy of a gang war, which reached unprecedented levels in late 2023 with a record number of shooting incidents, against the background of the battle for control of the drug trade.

Gangs recruit young people, who are not considered criminally responsible, to commit crimes, with some of the perpetrators as young as 12 years old.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristerson and opposition leader Magdalena Andersson announced they would travel later today to Skarholmen, on the southern outskirts of the capital, where the father was killed.

Several shooting incidents have been reported in this district in recent months.

“The criminal system facing our country has harsh consequences for our entire free and open society,” the Prime Minister said in a message on Instagram.

“People so violent should not be able to intimidate honest citizens into silence,” he added.

“The gangs, completely ruthless, will not stop until we stop them,” added the Swedish leader.

The head of the anti-immigration party Sweden Democrats Jimmy Akesson estimates that “it is not enough to spout platitudes, it is time for Sweden to declare a total war on all members of these criminal gangs”.

The 39-year-old father, named Michael, according to media reports, was shot in the head in front of his son yesterday afternoon as they rode their bikes to the pool.

He breathed his last today, according to police.

Mass media, including the television network TV4 and the newspapers Aftonbladet and Expressen, reported that he was murdered, because he confronted a criminal gang.

Police, who have not made any arrests, have not confirmed the report.

“He hated injustice. This cost him his life,” his sister told Expressen on condition of anonymity. “He was touchy-feely, he didn’t like to read anything about shootings.”

The killing came as Sweden’s parliament yesterday approved a law allowing police to set up temporary zones to carry out body searches without suspicion of a crime, in an attempt to curb gang violence.