3 Are Killed, 21 Wounded as Gunmen Attack Swedish Disco

Gunmen fired on a trendy nightclub here early Sunday, killing three people and wounding 21. Police believe the killers were looking for revenge after being turned away from the club.

The slayings were the latest in a string of murders that have shocked Sweden, which once experienced very little violent crime.

Police raided the apartment of one suspect in a working-class neighborhood south of the capital, but no one was there. Police said two other men also were involved in the shooting.

The gunmen, dressed in military camouflage jackets, fired an automatic rifle through the doors and windows of the Sture Company discotheque at 5:15 a.m., about an hour after a dispute with the club’s doormen, said police spokesman Walter Kegoe.

“Several people were turned away by the doormen earlier, and a scuffle broke out. They came back later,” Kegoe said.

People inside the central Stockholm disco said the shooting set off a panic.

“As I walked down the stairs, I saw blood spurting everywhere,” one man told Swedish TV. “Then I saw people just fall everywhere, and then I heard people say ‘Run!’ so we ran back into the club.”

A doorman and two women were killed, police said. At least two of the wounded were in critical condition.