He had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State in a self-recorded video the day before the attack,[6] and Uzbek authorities alleged that he had joined the group.

[7] Akilov was convicted of murder and terrorist crimes, and sentenced to life in prison and, if released, deportation to Uzbekistan and lifetime expulsion from Sweden.

[9] Akilov recorded a number of films in the Odenplan area where he is heard saying that it is time to kill "infidels" and that it grieved him how Muslims in the Levant and Afghanistan were dying.

It began when a truck for the Spendrups brewery was hijacked while making a delivery on the street Adolf Fredriks kyrkogata in central Stockholm.

National Police Commissioner Dan Eliasson later said they had found a suspicious object in the driver's seat that "could be a bomb or an incendiary device", and was pending further investigation.

[26] The day after the attack, a man was arrested and part of the Grønland district of Oslo closed off by police after a "bomb-like" device was found, which was later destroyed in a controlled explosion.

The man arrived with his family in Norway as an asylum seeker in 2010, and was known to the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) for having expressed support for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).

[28] With his background from the Caucasus, the 17-year-old has been linked to two other young Chechen men from the same martial arts club in the small northern town of Vadsø who traveled to fight for ISIS in Syria.

[30] On 9 April, the Swedish Prime Minister said the government intended to change immigration law to facilitate the removal of people whose applications to stay in Sweden have been rejected.

[37] The department store Åhléns had planned to re-open two days after the attack, but received heavy criticism after saying they would be selling smoke-damaged clothing at reduced rates.

[46] In Brussels, where a terrorist attack took place a year earlier, the ING Marnix building near the Throne metro station was also decorated with a moving Swedish flag animation.

[47] Stéphane Dujarric, the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, said, "Our sympathy goes to the families of the victims and all those affected and we wish the injured a prompt recovery.

[49] Danish government minister Inger Støjberg expressed concerns that at least 12,000 illegal immigrants were still living in Sweden after having their asylum applications rejected.

At 19:55 (17:55 UTC) on 7 April (roughly 5 hours after the attack), Rakhmat Akilov (born 14 February 1978), a 39-year-old construction worker[52] from Uzbekistan, was apprehended in Märsta, north of Stockholm,[17][53] suspected, on probable cause,[a] of "terrorist crimes through murder".

His older brother Olim Akilov stated in an interview with Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that they considered themselves a "typical Soviet family", and he mentions that they did not welcome the collapse of the USSR.

[63] When he failed to do so voluntarily and did not appear at the Swedish Migration Agency when called, the case was referred to the police;[64] however, he went into hiding and could not be found for deportation.

[65] Reportedly, he lived at various addresses in Stockholm suburbs and was known as a hard worker, and a "normal Muslim" who visited the mosque on Fridays but got drunk on weekends and used cannabis.

[7] Uzbekistan had opened an investigation and charged Akilov with participation in extremist, separatist and fundamentalist groups, as well as with making and distributing material that threatened public security.

The source added that, two months before the attack, Uzbek authorities had put Akilov on a wanted list for those suspected of religious extremism.

Initial suspicions of those involved sending money to ISIS could not be confirmed, though a number of people were convicted of false accounting and severe tax crimes.

[59] It has also been suggested that he had liked a Facebook page called "Friends of Libya and Syria", whose aim is to expose the "terrorism of the imperialistic financial capitals" of the United States, Britain, and Arab "dictatorships".

[77] According to the prosecutor, Akilov's motive for carrying out the attack was to make the Swedish government cease its military training effort in Iraq.

[6] The public prosecutor successfully requested Akilov be remanded in custody during the preliminary investigation on 10 April 2017, pending a decision on prosecution.

[79] A pre-trial hearing was held at Stockholm District Court on 11 April, where his lawyer said he confessed to a terrorist crime and intended to plead guilty.