The man suspected of hijacking a truck and using it to commit Friday’s attack in Sweden, killing 4, had been denied residency in that country, officials said Sunday.
In a Sunday news conference, Stockholm police say the 39-year-old Uzbek national had applied for residency in 2014 but was denied just last year and ordered to leave the country.
This past February, the still unnamed man continued to evade authorities tasked that month in carrying out the order.
He had also expressed sympathies for extremist Islamist groups, said the head of Sweden’s national police.
“We know that he has shown sympathy for extremist organizations like [Islamic State],” Jonas Hysing told reporters.
Elsewhere on Sunday, thousands gathered on the major tourist and shopping street where Friday’s attack occurred, killing four and injuring fifteen others.
Sweden authorities have yet to identify the names of the killed, but The Associated Press breaks down the deceased as including two Swedes as well as a British man and a Belgian woman.
The man accused of driving the truck down the busy thoroughfare and into a major department store was arrested shortly after the attack.
Police also say a second suspect had been arrested in connection with the attack, Reuters reports, but they believe the Uzbek man was the driver.
Another five others had been held for questioning in the investigation.
Since the attack, police have conducted raids and questioned scores of people.
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