A 34-year-old man is sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a 64-year-old travel agency owner in Husby, northwest Stockholm. The victim was the uncle by marriage of the wanted gang leader Rawa “Kurdish Fox” Majid. During the escape, the perpetrator shot at both a witness and a police officer who were pursuing him.

The murder was committed on the afternoon of January 29, 2025. The 64-year-old man, who ran a small travel agency in the center of the ethnically segregated and troubled Stockholm suburb of Husby, was shot six times in the upper body.

The incident was captured by surveillance cameras, and according to the Solna District Court, the actual shooting lasted for about ten seconds – a sequence that the court likened to a pure execution. But during the escape, the perpetrator also shot at witnesses and pursuing police.

The now convicted 34-year-old, lifestyle criminal Karim Alaa Hussain, denied in court that he was the perpetrator. However, the court considers the evidence to be unequivocal. Testimony from an employee who was in the premises, a police officer who happened to be nearby, and detailed surveillance footage are deemed by the court as “very strong.”

Shooting at police and witness

After shooting the 64-year-old, the perpetrator fled through the center, where people were moving among the shops. A plainclothes police officer working in the area heard the shots and ran after him together with a witness.

At a pedestrian bridge, when the police officer shouted “Police,” the 34-year-old turned around and fired shots at both individuals. However, fortunately, no one was hit by the bullets.

The chase continued into a nearby courtyard where the police managed to apprehend the perpetrator. Along the escape route, the pistol linked to the crime was also found.

Planned attack

The District Court stated that the murder was preceded by clear planning. The day before the shooting, Karim was seen outside the travel agency where, according to surveillance footage, he photographed the surroundings. On the day of the murder, he wore two layers of pants and changed clothes shortly before the deed.

The planning, the way the murder was carried out, and the shootings at the police and witness lead the court to conclude that only life imprisonment can be considered as a penalty. Karim is also convicted of aggravated weapons offenses and drug offenses.

Connections to the Foxtrot conflict

The murdered 64-year-old was the uncle by marriage of Rawa “Kurdish Fox” Majid, the leader of the immigrant criminal Foxtrot network. During the investigation, the police have worked with several possible motives, including the possibility that the attack may have been a revenge action in an ongoing gang conflict.

In interrogations, hypotheses have been mentioned that the murder could be linked to a fatal shooting of a “Swedish” gang criminal in Turkey a few days earlier. Another piece of information that has appeared in the investigation is that the victim had pointed out Majid as a suspect in the murder of his son several years earlier.

READ MORE: Here he shoots at the police – charged with murder in Husby

According to previous interrogation information – reported in the media during the spring and autumn – Karim stated that he had long had a drug addiction and that he had come into contact with a person calling himself “King” via the Signal app. In his account, Karim claimed that he had been offered compensation for killing a designated person and that a woman in a car had handed over the weapon shortly before the deed.

In later interrogations, he has provided different accounts. However, the court focuses on the account that corresponds to the murder and disregards the others.

Extensive criminal background

Karim has an extensive criminal history, with previous convictions for, among other things, assault, robbery, theft, and weapons offenses. This is according to public information in the preliminary investigation and previous legal documents.

A forensic psychiatric examination has shown that he does not suffer from any serious mental disorder. Therefore, there are no grounds for sentencing him to care – imprisonment is the only penalty.

In addition to life imprisonment, the 34-year-old is ordered to pay damages to the deceased man’s relatives totaling 277,990 kronor. The police officer who was shot at is awarded 200,000 kronor in damages, and the witness who was shot at receives 209,600 kronor.

The murder has been one of the year’s most publicized acts of violence with connections to the gang environment and occurred in the midst of a period of escalating conflicts linked to the Foxtrot network. The weight of the verdict is expected to have significance in the ongoing legal work against the network’s activities.