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One Arrested After Deadly Truck Attack In Stockholm

Police secure the scene where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store in central Stockholm on Friday.
Jonathan Nackstrand AFP/Getty Images
Police secure the scene where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store in central Stockholm on Friday.

People react near where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store in central Stockholm on Friday.
Andreas Schyman AFP/Getty Images
People react near where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store in central Stockholm on Friday.

Emergency crews work at the scene where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store in central Stockholm on Friday.
Jonathan Nackstrand AFP/Getty Images
Emergency crews work at the scene where a truck crashed into the Ahlens department store in central Stockholm on Friday.

Updated at 3:15 p.m. ET

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Authorities in Sweden say they have made one arrest after a truck drove into pedestrians on a major shopping and tourist street in Stockholm Friday, causing multiple injuries and fatalities.

The vehicle, a stolen beer delivery truck, plowed through the pedestrian street and crashed into an upscale department store. Four people died and 15 were injured, according to police.

Authorities say they are investigating the incident as a possible terror attack.

Earlier on Friday, police questioned two people who they did not identify as suspects. (At one point Sweden's prime minister said someone had been arrested, but police said that was not true.)

Then authorities released a photo of a man they said was wanted in connection with the crash.

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"The picture shows a man clad in a hooded jacket on an escalator in what appears to be the Stockholm metro," Radio Sweden reported. "The police stressed he is not suspected of the deed, but is wanted for questioning."

Swedish police have now arrested that man, but would not identify who he is or why he was wanted. He "may have connections" to the attack, police said, but provided no details.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, speaking shortly after the incident, said there were indications the truck hit pedestrians as "a terror attack." But Radio Sweden reports that the Swedish Security Service says there is no confirmation the incident was an act of terrorism.

Police were unable to confirm early reports of gunfire at the scene.

The incident occurred on Drottninggatan, or Queen Street, a popular walking destination lined with shops. The location of the crash was a pedestrian-only section of the street, according to Radio Sweden.

"It's a very crowded part of the city," Swedish journalist Lava Delo told NPR's Morning Edition.

Video footage shows people fleeing.

The Local, an English-language news agency with reporters in Sweden, reports that a brewery says the truck was hijacked from one of its staff members:

"Swedish brewery company Spendrups, which owns the truck, said it had been hijacked earlier in the day. " 'It's one of our distribution vehicles which runs deliveries. During a delivery to the restaurant Caliente someone jumped into the driver's cabin and drove off with the car, while the driver unloads,' communication director Mårten Lyth told the TT news agency."

According to Radio Sweden, "large parts of central Stockholm are cordoned off, all metro services are canceled [and] the parliament building (Riksdag) and the government headquarters Rosenbad are in lock-down."

"A number of busy shopping locations in Stockholm have been evacuated at the request of the police," The Local reports, and theaters, concert venues and other events have also been shut down.

The department store where the truck crashed into the building is a few blocks from the site of a 2010 bombing in Stockholm, the most recent terror attack in the country. In that bombing, the attacker succeeded only in killing himself.

This is a breaking news story. As often happens in situations like these, some information reported early may turn out to be inaccurate. We'll move quickly to correct the record and we'll only point to the best information we have at the time.

Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.