Swedes reacted with shock and anger on Thursday after a father was shot dead in broad daylight in front of his son in a suburb of Stockholm.
According to preliminary media reports, the 39-year-old father was shot with a bullet in the head, in front of his 12-year-old child, by a group of youths, likely illegal immigrants.
"Gangsters were being brutal towards him. He asked them to leave him alone, but one of them pulled out a pistol and shot him in the head in the eyes of the minor boy while they were near the pool," said a witness.
The Scandinavian country has seen an increase in violence in recent years as criminal gangs clash for control of drug markets, with bombings and shootings recorded every week.
Migrant gangs often recruit young teenagers to commit violence because they are not criminally responsible, with some perpetrators as young as 12.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and opposition leader Magdalena Andersson were due to visit the Skarholmen suburb south of the capital on Thursday evening. The area has seen several shootings in recent months.
"The system-threatening crime our country is now experiencing has brutal consequences for our entire free and open society," Kristersson wrote in an Instagram post Thursday.
"People with violent intent should not be allowed to intimidate honest citizens into silence," he said.
"The gangs, with their utter ruthlessness, will not stop until we stop them," he said.
The head of the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, Jimmie Akesson, said it was time for Sweden to declare war on gangs.
The 39-year-old father, identified in media reports only as Mikael, was shot in the head in front of his son early Wednesday evening as they cycled to a swimming pool. According to police, he died early Thursday.