Swedish police investigated after brutal gang murder of Mohamed, 14
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The probe comes after public radio station P4 Jönköping revealed that police officers had made flippant remarks about the boy's mother when she contacted police to raise the alarm.
They had also failed to bring in an interpreter to be able to question the Somali mother, calling it "overkill" and instead relying on Mohamed's 12-year-old little sister to translate for them.
The report by P4 Jönköping has grabbed headlines in Swedish media and police have faced accusations of racism.
"I have reacted to the media reports and want to form my own opinion about the matter," JO Per Lennerbrant said in a statement.
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Malena Grann, the head of the Eastern police region, said she welcomed the investigation.
"It's a very tragic event and I understand if the family feel they were not taken seriously. I am really sorry," she said in a statement, saying she and the police authority did not support the language used by the officers. "There must never be any doubt that we treat people equally."
In the original police report, officers wrote down the wrong location for the HVB home which Mohamed had fled from, writing Linköping instead of Nyköping. A HVB home is a type of foster home or social care home for children.
According to the police, new routines have been put in place for children who disappear from HVB homes since Mohamed disappeared in 2023.
"The police force is in constant development," Grann said. "We've adapted to these developments in society, where violent crime has crept into lower age groups, and we know that gangs sometimes recruit from HVB homes."
Mohamed and his friend Layth were kidnapped and killed by members of the criminal Foxtrot network in 2023. The trial got under way in March.
In total, there are 18 defendants in the case, eight of whom are in police custody. The suspects, who are linked to the Foxtrot gang, are accused of varying degrees of involvement in the murder, as well as plans to murder five people linked to the rival Dalen gang.
The boys were found dead in forest areas in Nynäshamn and Upplands-Bro in July and August 2023. According to the charge sheet, Mohamed was stabbed to death and Layth most likely strangled to death.
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