Just a few weeks after graduating from high school and as he prepared to begin his studies in architecture, 19-year-old Albanian Gent Maksutaj was shot dead on a street in the Swedish city of Uppsala.
The incident has shocked public opinion in Sweden. According to authorities, a minor under the age of 18 has been arrested as a suspect in the murder, while the prosecution does not rule out that other people may have participated in the crime.
According to the Swedish daily Aftonbladet, the manner in which the attack was carried out indicates that it was an execution.
The perpetrator allegedly approached the victim on a bicycle, shot him once, and, after the 19-year-old fell to the ground, approached him again, shooting him at close range.
He then left by train to Stockholm, where he was arrested at a Burger King restaurant.
Investigators are working to determine the motive for the crime. So far, Swedish police have not confirmed whether the murder is related to gang conflicts, a phenomenon that has hit the country hard in recent years.
Local media report that Gent Maksutaj had just graduated and planned to study architecture, while family and friends remember him as a boy with no ties to the criminal world.
However, the exact circumstances of the murder remain under investigation.