STOCKHOLM — An Iraqi man who publicly burned the Qur'an several times in Sweden has been killed, according to Swedish authorities.

Swedish media reported that he was killed in a shooting in a nearby city.

Salwan Momika, 38, staged several burnings of Islam's holy book in Sweden in 2023, stirring national controversy and raising anger in several Muslim nations, with anti-Swedish riots and unrest cropping up in response.

Police said they were alerted to a shooting Wednesday night in Södertälje, near Stockholm, and found a man with gunshot wounds. He later died, and a preliminary murder investigation was opened.

As reported by Swedish media, prosecutor Rasmus Öhman confirmed this morning that five people have been arrested. Police said they are investigating reports that the killing may have been streamed live on social media.

Momika came to Sweden from Iraq in 2018 and was granted a three-year residence permit in 2021.

He and a co-defendant had been charged with incitement to racial hatred because of statements they made in connection with the Quran burnings. A verdict in the case was supposed to be handed down on Thursday morning.

The Stockholm District Court said on Thursday that the delivery of the verdict had been postponed because one of the defendants had died. A judge at the court, Göran Lundahl, then confirmed that Momika was the deceased person in question.

Momika argued that his protests targeted the religion of Islam, not Muslim people. He argued that he wanted to protect Sweden's population from the messages of the Qur'an. Swedish police allowed his demonstrations, citing freedom of speech while filing charges against him.

In a statement after his killing was confirmed, the Swedish security service, SÄPO, said that it was not involved in the investigation.

"We are responsible for developments in Sweden and in the world that are considered a threat to Sweden's security, said spokeswoman Karin Lutz, who said the agency had not been charged with protecting Momika.

"The Qur'an burnings that have occurred, in which Momika was one of those who burned Korans, have affected Sweden's security," she said, according to Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter. "In that sense, we have had a role. When it comes to permits and security, that has been the police's area." — Euronews