3 people killed in shooting in Sweden, police say

Three people were killed in a shooting in the Swedish city of Uppsala on Tuesday and a murder investigation has been launched, police said.

Police said it was investigating the shooting as a homicide and that it had no information about the incident being a terror or hate crime at this point.

"We have information that a person left the scene on an electric scooter," a police spokesperson told Reuters. "Whether this person is a perpetrator or a witness, or someone who has some connection to the incident, it is unclear at this time."

Police said the victims were yet to be identified and declined to speculate on the motive for the killings.

Electric scooters have been used several times as a mode of escape after gang conflict shootings in Sweden. Uppsala, some 40 minutes north of the capital, Stockholm, by car, has seen many gang-related shootings in the past decade, but usually outside the city center.

Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer said the Justice Ministry was in close contact with the police and that it was closely monitoring developments in the case.

"A brutal act of violence has occurred in central Uppsala ... This is at the same time as the whole of Uppsala has begun Walpurgis Night. What has happened is extremely serious," Strommer said in a statement.

Police said earlier they had received calls from members of the public who heard gunshots in the city centre, and that emergency services had rushed to the scene.

"Three people are confirmed dead after a shooting ... The police are investigating the incident as a homicide," investigators said in a statement.

Witnesses told SVT they had heard five shots and had seen people in the area running to take cover. Several Swedish media, including TT, reported that the shooting took place near or in a hair salon.