Anna Lindh - Murder

Murder

Anna Lindh died on the early morning of 11 September 2003, following a knife attack in Stockholm on the afternoon of 10 September. Just after 4 p.m., she was attacked while shopping in the ladies' section of the Nordiska Kompaniet department store in central Stockholm. She was stabbed in the chest, stomach and arms. At the time of the attack, Lindh was not protected by bodyguards from the Swedish Security Service, a controversial predicament similar to that of prime minister Olof Palme in 1986, the first murder of a government member in Sweden's modern history.

Following the assault she was rushed to the Karolinska Hospital where she underwent surgery for over nine hours, receiving blood transfusions continuously during the surgery. She reportedly suffered serious internal bleeding, her liver was seriously damaged, and her medical situation remained grave, although at first she appeared to have improved following surgery. One hour after concluding the initial nine-hour surgery, complications forced resumption of surgery. At 5:29 a.m. she was pronounced dead. Following a private briefing of her relatives and the interior of the government, juxtaposed by news coverage stating that she was alive and that the situation was "grave" but "stable", the announcement of her death made headlines over Europe hours later.