Mass shooting suspect, 14, texted ‘check the news hehe’ after six people injured

The teen was reported missing hours before the attack in Gävle, Sweden, which saw six people shot in a busy city centre street. Police said he faces charged of six counts of attempted murder

A boy of 14 suspected of shooting six people in a city centre is said to have sent a text message to his social worker after the gun horror which read: “Check the news hehe.” The teen was reported missing hours before the attack in Gävle, Sweden.

Local media reports say he was on the police’s radar and did not want to tell social services what he was doing on Saturday when they contacted the boy as concern grew he was hanging out in the wrong circles and that he would commit an act of violence.

Cops rushed to the scene after gunfire rang out in a street lined with bars and restaurants in the Söder area of the port city in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Witnesses say the gunman fired at close range with a pistol, straight into a group of people standing outside a couple of restaurants on Södra Kungsgatan in Söder, the Expressen reports. Photos from the scene showed blood-soaked napkins strewn along the street.

The boy was arrested shortly after the shooting, near the crime scene. He is suspected of six counts of attempted murder and aggravated weapons offenses, police said.

Detectives say they have a “relatively good” idea of the timeline but are working to establish a motive. The suspect was quizzed over the weekend and witnesses were due to be interviewed on Sunday.

Police spokesperson Tobias Ahlén Svalbro said: “We have questioned a lot of witnesses and we have more witnesses to hear during the day.”

Of the six who were shot, none suffered life-threatening injuries. Two of the injured were released from the hospital on Saturday.

Shariar Rad, who runs a restaurant just yards from where the shots were fired, told how his staff had taken in three of the wounded before ambulances arrived at the scene.

Sweden’s Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer said: “Victims of crime, their loved ones, and all the people in Gävle who wake up today to grim headlines and feel worry and fear about the violence and what it is doing to our society.

“The act is yet another dark example of the significant capacity for violence among criminals and the constant risks of new violent acts simmering beneath the surface.”

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here .