Peter Mangs
{{Short description|Swedish serial killer (born 1972)}}
{{Update|date=January 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox criminal
| date = June 2003–October 2010
| fatalities = 3
| injuries = 12
| weapons = Glock 19
| motive = Attempting to start a race war
| targets = Non-whites and people he viewed as "race traitors"
| locations = Malmö, Sweden
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1972}}
| birth_place = Sweden
}}
Peter Mangs (born 1972), sometimes nicknamed Laser Man II ({{Langx|sv|Lasermannen II}}), is a Swedish serial killer and lone wolf terrorist. He was responsible for at least three racially motivated murders between 2003 and 2010, and twelve murder attempts, in a series of serial shootings in the city of Malmö. In 2012 Mangs was found guilty on two counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder, and given a life sentence.
Early life
Peter Mangs was born in 1972, and was raised in the Lindängen area of Malmö. He was raised by a single mother.{{sfn|Gardell|2018|p=794}} Mangs had an immigrant background himself via a father born in Närpes, Finland.{{sfn|Gardell|2015|p=43}}
Mangs professed to feel alienated and frustrated with society. His lawyers argued that he had Asperger syndrome.{{cite news |last=Wahldén |first=Christina |date=8 March 2012 |title=Förklarar sina handlingar med Aspergers |url=http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/mangs-anvander-sin-diagnos-som-en-skold-mot-omvarlden_7181473.svd |newspaper=Svenska Dagbladet |language=Swedish}} Mangs suspected that he had the disorder since at least 2005, when he joined an association for people with Asperger syndrome, and was formally diagnosed in May 2009.{{cite web |date=14 March 2012 |title=Serieskytten i Malmö ville ha aspergerdiagnos |url=http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=83&artikel=5106756 |publisher=Sveriges Radio |language=Swedish}} He had a very high score of 19 on the Autistic Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS).{{sfn|Palmkvist|2015|p=75}}
Mangs was familiar with white supremacist literature and had read about lone wolf tactical materials.{{sfn|Gardell|2018|p=793}} He had read both of William Luther Pierce's far right-novels The Turner Diaries and Hunter. He was fixated on racist serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin, who Hunter is devoted to. He was introduced to Franklin by the book.{{sfn|Berger|2016|p=32}}{{sfn|Gardell|2018|p=802}}{{sfn|Gardell|2021|p=177}}
Murders and attempted murders
Mangs committed the killings aiming to ignite a race war by targeting people in select categories who represented types of people who he believed should not live in Malmö: "race traitors", Muslims, Roma, and Swedes of African descent.{{sfn|Gardell|2018|p=793}} In June and July 2003, at the age of 31,{{sfn|Gardell|2018|p=794}} he killed two men, 65-year-old Kooros Effatian and 23-year-old Firas al-Shariah; he selected them as victims due to their names indicating non-white heritage. Afterwards he continued his murder attempts for several years.{{sfn|Gardell|2018|p=797}}
In fall 2009, he began shooting people in clustered attacks.{{sfn|Gardell|2018|p=797}} These were carried out with a 9mm Glock 19 handgun.{{cite news |date=22 October 2010 |title=Swedish city on edge in shooting spree |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna39798567 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101023175904/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39798567/ns/world_news-europe |archive-date=23 October 2010 |access-date=24 October 2010 |work=MSNBC}} On 9 October 2009, he shot and killed Trez West Persson, an ethnically Swedish{{cite news |last=Johansen |first=Anders Holth |date=24 October 2010 |title=Hun var den nye lasermannens første offer |url=http://www.dagbladet.no/2010/10/24/nyheter/utenriks/sverige/drap/13977867/ |accessdate=24 October 2010 |work=Dagbladet |language=Norwegian}} woman sitting in a car with a man of Albanian ethnicity. While the media speculated that she had been killed by accident and her partner was the intended target, the targeting was on purpose, with Mangs aiming to mimick Franklin and kill a woman he viewed as a race traitor.{{sfn|Gardell|2018|p=797}} This murder was linked to the other shootings through forensic evidence, showing that the weapon used was the same gun as the one used in several of the other attacks.
The attacks soon spread fear among the substantial immigrant population of Malmö. "Many people are frightened at the moment", said Tahmoures Yassami, the leader of the Iranian-Swedish Association in Malmö, "especially families who have children."{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/22/swedish-police-hunt-gunman|title=Swedish police hunt gunman targeting immigrants|last=Adetunji|first=Jo|date=22 October 2010|work=The Guardian|accessdate=24 October 2010}} The local police warned against panic, pointing out that the risk for any individual of being shot was very low. At the same time, they cautioned people of ethnic minorities to avoid secluded areas after dark, which was when the attacks had been taking place.{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad-application/migrants-warned-as-race-hate-killer-brings-fear-to-sweden/story-fn6s850w-1225942475757|title=Migrants warned as race-hate killer brings fear to Sweden|date=22 October 2010|work=Herald Sun|accessdate=24 October 2010}}
Investigation
The shooter was compared to the likes of John Ausonius, dubbed the "Laser Man" ({{Langx|sv|Lasermannen}}), who committed similar crimes in 1991–92, targeting eleven men of immigrant origin in the Stockholm and Uppsala area, killing one.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/sweden/8082249/Swedish-police-hunt-for-gunmen-targeting-immigrants.html|title=Swedish police hunt for gunmen targeting immigrants|date=22 October 2010|work=The Daily Telegraph|accessdate=24 October 2010}}{{cite web |date=22 October 2010 |title=Swedish police link 'racist' shootings to lone gunman |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11606019 |accessdate=24 October 2010 |publisher=BBC News}}
On 6 November 2010, Swedish police announced that they had arrested a man they suspected was the shooter.{{cite news|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i0oAPU6CiEAeHr7YR13qur-DbDIQ?docId=6420197ff5034654ad685cff96eb6809|title=Swedish police arrest man for Malmo shootings|date=7 November 2010|agency=The Associated Press|accessdate=7 November 2010}}{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} According to Malmö police he was under suspicion of one murder and seven murder attempts.{{cite news|first=Erik|last=Högström|url=http://www.expressen.se/nyheter/1.2204347/aklagaren-vi-har-gjort-fynd-som-starker-misstanken|title=Åklagaren: Vi har gjort fynd som stärker misstanken|newspaper=Expressen|accessdate=9 November 2010|language=Swedish|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101110080745/http://www.expressen.se/nyheter/1.2204347/aklagaren-vi-har-gjort-fynd-som-starker-misstanken|archive-date=10 November 2010|url-status=dead}} The man arrested was a 38-year-old Swedish man, Peter Mangs.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/sweden/8120597/Malmo-shootings-Swedish-man-charged.html|title=Malmo shootings: Swedish man charged|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=9 November 2010}}{{Cite news |title=Mangs är en högerextrem terrorist |url=https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/kolumnister/a/8wxQ6G/mangs-ar-en-hogerextrem-terrorist |access-date=24 September 2018 |work=Aftonbladet |language=sv}} He expressed strong anti-immigrant sentiments and admiration for John Ausonius.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/world/europe/peter-mangs-trial-in-sweden-has-echoes-of-breivik-case.html|title=A Murder Trial in Sweden, With Echoes of Norway|newspaper=The New York Times |date=15 May 2012}} In May of 2015, Mangs claimed through a biography that he wrote that he had planned to kill Zlatan Ibrahimović. When he returned to kill him, he was gone.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2015/05/08/swedish-killer-said-he-had-plans-to-murder-soccer-star-zlatan-ibrahimovic/|title=Swedish killer said he had plans to murder soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic|newspaper=The Washington Post|accessdate=2025-03-20}}{{cite web|accessdate=2025-03-20 |title=Swedish gunman claims he nearly shot Zlatan Ibrahimovic for bad parking |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/may/11/swedish-gunman-nearly-shot-zlatan-ibrahimovic-bad-parking |work=The Guardian|date=11 May 2015 |last1=Sport |first1=Guardian }}
Legal proceedings
In 2012, Mangs was found guilty on two counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder, and given a life sentence.{{cite web |date=23 November 2012 |title=Swedish anti-immigrant sniper jailed for life |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sweden-crime-idUSBRE8AM0AP20121123 |access-date=12 March 2017 |publisher=Reuters}} The Scania and Blekinge Court of Appeal denied an attempt by Mangs to overturn his sentence, convicting him of an additional three attempted murders, on 25 April 2013.{{cite news |date=25 April 2013 |title=Sweden's 'racist sniper' felled for further crimes |url=http://www.thelocal.se/47552/20130425/ |newspaper=The Local}} A further request for appeal was denied by the Supreme Court in June of the same year.{{cite news|url=http://www.thelocal.se/48676/20130625/|title=Supreme Court denies 'Malmö sniper' appeal|newspaper=The Local |date=25 June 2013}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
= Works cited =
- {{Cite journal |last=Berger |first=J.M. |author-link=J.M. Berger |date=2016 |title=The Turner Legacy: The Storied Origins and Enduring Impact of White Nationalism's Deadly Bible |journal=International Centre for Counter-Terrorism |location=The Hague |language=en |volume=7 |issue=8 |doi=10.19165/2016.1.11 |doi-access=free}}
- {{Cite book |last=Gardell | first = Mattias | title = Raskrigaren: Seriemördaren Peter Mangs | isbn = 978-91-7343-381-5 | year = 2015 | location = Stockholm | publisher = Leopard Förlag | language = sv |author-link=Mattias Gardell}}
- {{Cite journal |last=Gardell |first=Mattias |author-link=Mattias Gardell |date=2018-09-03 |title=Urban Terror: The Case of Lone Wolf Peter Mangs |journal=Terrorism and Political Violence |language=en |volume=30 |issue=5 |pages=793–811 |doi=10.1080/09546553.2018.1444796 |issn=0954-6553|url=http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-350015 }}
- {{Cite journal |last=Gardell |first=Mattias |author-link=Mattias Gardell |date=2021-06-24 |title='The Girl Who Was Chased by Fire': Violence and Passion in Contemporary Swedish Fascist Fiction |journal=Fascism |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=166–185 |doi=10.1163/22116257-10010004 |issn=2211-6257}}
- {{Cite book | last = Palmkvist | first = Joakim | title = Äventyr i Svenssonland: Seriemördaren Peter Mangs | isbn = 978-91-0-014568-2 | year = 2015 | location = Stockholm | publisher = Bonnier | language = sv}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20101114085007/http://www.polisen.se/sv/Aktuellt/Skjutningarna-i-Malmo/?localid=34 Skjutningarna i Malmö], archived copy of site by the Swedish Police Authority {{In lang|sv}}.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mangs, Peter}}
Category:2003 murders in Sweden
Category:2009 murders in Sweden
Category:Anti-Muslim violence in Europe
Category:People convicted of murder by Sweden
Category:People convicted of attempted murder
Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Sweden
Category:Racially motivated violence in Europe
Category:Swedish people convicted of murder
Category:Swedish people of Finnish descent
Category:Swedish prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment