At least 3 injured in Sweden shooting amid rise in violence

HELSINKI (AP) - A shooting Tuesday in the southern Swedish city of Kristianstad has left at least three people seriously injured, police said.

Swedish police received an alert Tuesday afternoon that several loud bangs were heard in one of the districts of the city. Police soon arrived at the scene with several patrols.

Authorities say two men, aged 20 and 30, and a woman, aged 60, have suffered serious injuries and are being treated in a hospital.

There was no immediate information on the cause of the shooting, but it comes amid a rise in gun violence in the Scandinavian nation.

A report by the Swedish national council for crime prevention said this year that Sweden is the only European country where fatal shootings have risen significantly since 2000, primarily because of the violent activities of organized criminal gangs.

'œWe are currently working to get an overview of how many are injured. An ambulance has been called to the scene,'ť police spokesman Richard Lundqvist was quoted as telling local newspaper Sydsvenskan.

On Monday evening, there were also reports of shootings in the same area in Kristianstad, the Swedish news agency TT reported.