2017 Stockholm truck attack

2017 Stockholm truck attack
The truck used in the attack (right) being removed from the scene
The path of the attack
LocationDrottninggatan, Stockholm, Sweden
Coordinates59°19′58″N 018°03′44″E / 59.33278°N 18.06222°E / 59.33278; 18.06222
Date7 April 2017 (2017-04-07)
c. 14:53 CEST (UTC+2)
TargetCivilian pedestrians
Attack type
Vehicle-ramming attack, mass murder, terrorism
WeaponsHijacked Mercedes-Benz Actros
Deaths5
Injured15 serious
Perpetrators ISIS
AssailantRakhmat Akilov
MotiveReligious terrorism, Protest against Swedish government military training in Iraq

On 7 April 2017, a vehicle-ramming terrorist attack took place in central Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. A hijacked truck was deliberately driven into crowds along Drottninggatan (Queen Street) before being crashed into an Åhléns department store. Five people were killed and 14 others were seriously injured.

The perpetrator was Rakhmat Akilov, a 39-year-old rejected asylum seeker and a citizen of Uzbekistan, who was apprehended several hours later. He had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State in a self-recorded video the day before the attack, and Uzbek authorities alleged that he had joined the group. Akilov was convicted of murder and terrorist crimes, and sentenced to life in prison and, if released, deportation to Uzbekistan and lifetime expulsion from Sweden.