Mattias Flink
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Mattias Flink (born March 8, 1970, in Falun, Sweden) is a Swedish mass murderer who killed seven people on June 11, 1994, in Falun, Sweden. He was at the time a Second Lieutenant of the Swedish Army.
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[edit] Early years
Flink was born and raised in Falun. His mother was a housewife and his father and grandfather worked as weaponry blacksmiths with their own shop. At the age of seven Flink joined the Scout Movement. His parents divorced when he was nine years old and the divorce is described as having been calm and sensible. Flink chose to stay with his father in the family house while his mother moved to an apartment just a couple of hundred meters from the house. According to psychological evaluations his mother's departure left deep scars within Flink. It is said that Flink developed some kind of alienation towards women.
Flink attended high school with a focus on Electric Mechanical studies. After his graduation Flink enlisted as a conscript with Dalaregementet. He committed himself to become an officer of the Swedish Army and was employed at Dalaregementet in 1993.
[edit] Mental health
During the spring of 1994 Flink suffered severe problems with his mental health, resulting in aggression, severe jealousy, sleeping disorders and paranoia. This led to a total mental collapse.
[edit] The mass murder
On June 11, 1994, Second Lieutenant Mattias Flink consumed a large amount of alcohol. Then he went home to change his clothes. Dressed in his field uniform he walked to his regiment. He equipped himself with his Automatic rifle the AK5 and 150 bullets, 5.56 caliber. Flink then set out for a park in the centre of Falun where he shot down 6 members of the Women's Auxiliary Services. The women were shot down randomly. Shortly thereafter he shot down two men, one cyclist and one security officer, at a nearby road crossing. Six of the victims died immediately, while one woman died in hospital. One victim survived the attack.
[edit] The arrest
After the the shootings Flink sought refuge in a nearby crane. He remained there for some time before he made his way down to walk his way home along a abandoned railway. It was at this time that two policemen discovered him. Flink fired two rounds at the policemen who returned the fire. Flink was hit in the hip and collapsed. At 03:25 Flink was apprehended and brought to Falu hospital. His alcohol blood level was 1.69 at the time of the arrest.
[edit] The trial
In the district court the defense never questioned the prosecutor's description of the crime. The question for the defense was whether Flink was mentally ill at the time for the shooting or not. According to expertise Flink was in a self-inflicted, by alcohol, temporary psychotic condition on the evening of the crime. If Flink was found mentally ill he would not be able to be sentenced to prison. The final verdict came in the Swedish Supreme Court, Mattias Flink was sentenced to life imprisonment. This precedent verdict made it possible for courts in Sweden to sentence people to prison because of alcohol inflicted psychosis.
[edit] Time in prison
Flink was placed in the Norrköping prison but was subsequently moved to Beateberg prison outside of Stockholm. When the prisoners of Beateberg got knowledge of Flink's move they arranged a meeting to show their disgust towards his actions of killing innocent women.
Flink has been allotted protected identity by Swedish Authorities. He has refused to give any interviews. During his years in prison he has been described as a calm and well-behaved prisoner.
During the spring of 2008 Mattias Flink applied for parole to the District court of Örebro. On June 9, the court ruled that Flink must go through a psychiatric examination to determine whether he is likely to be dangerous to others before a decision on parole can be made. The examination by the Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine (Rättsmedicinalverket) will be finished by July 7. The victims' families strongly oppose the fact that Flink might be released.
Mattias Flink has been given several monitored short-term leaves from the prison, and in May 2007 he was granted unmonitored leaves since he behaved well during his other leaves. Relatives and families of the victims strongly opposed these leaves and expresses worries about the same thing happening again.
[edit] Similar cases
In the same year, there was quite similar case in Finland, when an army deserter Mika Muranen shot two of his neighbours with a crossbow and one man with a assault rifle.
