Gamlegården shooting: from 12 years in prison to zero – Court of Appeal clears 22-year-old

Three people were shot and several more could have been shot.

It took place on the afternoon of August 3 last year.

In, or next to the line of fire in the shopping centre, was a young man who has now been murdered. He was shot dead in Gamlegården on September 22 this year – 20 years old.

Three young men with connections to Charlottesborg and, according to the prosecution, to the Challan network too, were charged suspected of several cases of attempted murder following the shooting at Gamlegården’s Centre. They were 16, 17 and 21 years old when the shots were fired. Today they are 18, 18 and 22 years old.

The District Court convicted the 22-year-old and the older 18-year-old for the attempted murder of nine people; this was the number of people that were in danger of being killed in connection with the shooting. The District Court’s verdict was delivered on May 31.

The youngest man was completely acquitted by the District Court.

It was not considered beyond reasonable doubt that he was one of the shooters. The court was also not in agreement regarding the verdict against the 22-year-old, but the sentence was set at twelve years imprisonment for him. The 18-year-old was given almost seven years.

The verdict was appealed to the Court of Appeal.

During the proceedings in the Court of Appeal, the convicted 18-year-old had a new version of events. According to this, he states that he cycled to and from Österäng and changed clothes with someone there. The change of clothes must have taken place relatively shortly after the shooting at Gamlegården on the same day.

On Thursday, November 10, the Court of Appeal was due to deliver its verdict, but as a result of sickness and a "heavy workload", the verdict was postponed. Instead, it was delivered today, November 21.

The owner of the motorbike, who was previously sentenced to 12 years in prison for driving the two shooters to Gamlegården's Centre and thereby making it possible for them to shoot, has been fully acquitted. They have been unable to prove that it was him driving the motorcycle, according to the Court of Appeal’s understanding.

The younger two – the 18-year-olds, who were only 16 when the shots were fired in Gamlegården, have gone from being cleared to being sentenced. The Court of Appeal believes that it has been proven that he was one of the shooters. The prosecutions new evidence of clothing, which was linked to CCTV surveillance, has played a part in convincing the Court of Appeal of his guilt.

Since he was so young when the crimes were committed, he has been given a lighter sentence than the older shooter, who was 17 when he fired the weapon. The penalty is closed juvenile detention for three years and six months.

The other older 18-year-old was sentenced to six years and seven months in prison, as before.