Main suspect in Stockholm truck attack admits to 'terrorist crime'

The Stockholm District Court ruled that police could detain Rakhmat Akilov for a month after he admitted in court that he drove the stolen beer truck into a crowd outside an upscale department store in central Stockholm on Friday afternoon. "Therefore, he will be detained", said Johan Eriksson, who is defending Akilov. In February, police were instructed to carry out the deportation, but he had disappeared.

Four people died and dozens were injured when a lorry mowed down pedestrians in the heart of the Swedish capital on Friday.

People gathered on Sergels square to pay their respects and leave flowers.

The construction worker had an asylum request rejected by Sweden past year and was arrested several hours after the attack in the Stockholm suburb of Marsta, police said.

Court papers showed that Akilov, whose application for Swedish residency was turned down previous year, is suspected of crimes against national security and terrorism. The head of the National Police, Dan Eliasson, said that the suspect had been known to police.

According to police, components were found in the stolen truck that could be used to make a "dangerous" object.

"We are all devastated by the untimely and tragic death of our talented, compassionate and caring son Chris", John Bevington, the victim's father, said in a statement.

"We will never let terror prevail", said Mayor Karin Wanngard at an official memorial held in city hall and attended by Prime Minister Stefan Lofven and the royal family.

Swedes have observed a minute of silence during an official day of mourning to honor the four people killed and 15 wounded in a truck attack last week on shoppers in Stockholm.

Swedish politicians have meanwhile expressed anger over the authorities' failure to deport the suspect, as police said around 12,000 people had absconded after being denied the right to stay.

"I said just a week before that it's just a matter of time before it is going to pop up in Sweden", he told the Associated Press.

The attack shattered any sense Swedes had of being insulated from the militant violence that has hit other parts of Europe but politicians have taken a defiant stance, saying Sweden will remain an open, tolerant society. Nine of the wounded are still in hospital, two are in critical condition.

The prosecutor's office said Tuesday that "the suspicions have weakened" against a second man who was detained Sunday as a possible accomplice.