News · Crime & justice · Published 11 July 2026
Swedish police report lowest first-half shooting total since records began
Police recorded 39 shootings and 68 explosions in the first half of 2026, both sharply below the same period last year.
DailySweden Editorial Desk
Updated 01:23 · 3 min read
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Sweden recorded 39 shootings in the first six months of 2026, the lowest first-half total since police began compiling the statistics in 2017.
Eight of the shootings were fatal and 15 resulted in injuries, according to figures released by the Swedish Police Authority. Police also recorded 68 explosions during the same six-month period.
All three measures were lower than in the first half of 2025. During that period, police counted 86 shootings, including the mass shooting at Risbergska, with 27 people killed and 20 injured. There were also 108 explosions.
Police recorded 39 shootings and 68 explosions in the first half of 2026, both sharply below the same period last year.
The longer series shows how far the number of shootings has fallen from recent peaks. Police recorded 187 shootings in the first half of 2023, 205 in 2022 and 149 in 2024.
Crime & justice essentials
The 2026 figure is also below every earlier first-half total in the published series. The previous low was 86 in 2025; the total was 114 when the series began in 2017.
Police described the decline as positive because fewer people have been killed or hurt. The authority attributed the change to work at local, national, international and digital levels, faster information-sharing and efforts targeting the individuals and networks most closely connected to violence.
What happens now
The police said hundreds of people had been arrested and prosecuted and that the most violence-driving criminal networks were weaker than before. At the same time, the authority cautioned that the underlying conflict situation remains serious and that its work is continuing.
The release also credited members of the public and professionals who alert police to unusual behaviour. It named parents, school leaders, social services, railway and taxi staff and retail workers among those who have provided information that allowed police to act before offences occurred.
The figures are preliminary half-year statistics from the police and describe reported shootings and explosions from January through June. They show a large year-on-year decline, but the authority’s warning about the continuing conflict environment means the lower totals should not be read as an end to the threat.
DailySweden Editorial Desk
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