Football player murdered in Södertälje shooting by The Local, Sweden's news in English. Published: July 1, 2010 at 11:50 CET
Eddie Moussa, a player with Swedish second division football club Assyriska was one of the two men shot dead in a gambling club in Södertälje near Stockholm on Wednesday night, according to a statement on the club's webpage.
The Superettan club was due to play an away match against Ängelholms FF this evening but the match has been cancelled, according to a statement on the Swedish Football Association homepage.
Police are continuing their search for three men seen leaving the premises by moped shortly after the shooting which, according to a report in the Aftonbladet daily, could have been an criminal underworld hit.
"It occurred in the Ronna shopping precinct, in Café Oasen," said Johan Sjöholm at Södertälje police to news agency TT on Thursday morning.
The premises where the men were shot is a known gambling club.
"With regards to gambling clubs problems emerge from time to time. It can't be ruled out that the shooting concerns gambling debts," said Björn Engström at Stockholm police.
Police received a call over the shooting at around 2.20am on Thursday morning. Police officers from across the county have been called in to assist the search for the three men.
According to witnesses three men came into the premises and began shooting, according to Mari Olofsson at Stockholm county police.
Police believe the perpetrators left the scene by moped, but witness testimony is unclear on this point. The moped was later found in the area, after having been set alight.
"We are going through all the information now, we shall then decide which direction to take the investigation. The victims have to be identified and relatives informed," Engström said.
The condition of the third victim, who is being cared for at Södertälje hospital, is reported by the police to be stable.
Eddie Moussa is a Swedish and Dominican citizen of Lebanese-Assyrian extraction. He played his debut for Assyriska FF, a club which played one season in Sweden's Allsvenskan top-flight after winning promotion in 2004.
The club, which was founded only in 1974, has a large following in Södertälje and is considered by many to be a substitute national team for the Assyrian people.
Assyria
\ã-'sir-é-ä\ n (1998)
1: an ancient empire of Ashur
2: a democratic state in Bet-Nahren, Assyria (northern
Iraq, northwestern Iran, southeastern Turkey and eastern Syria.)
3:
a democratic state that fosters the social and political rights to all of
its inhabitants irrespective of their religion, race, or gender
4: a democratic state that believes in the freedom of
religion, conscience, language, education and culture in faithfulness to the
principles of the United Nations Charter —
Atour synonym
Ethnicity, Religion, Language
»
Israeli, Jewish, Hebrew
»
Assyrian, Christian, Aramaic
»
Saudi Arabian, Muslim, Arabic
Assyrian
\ã-'sir-é-an\ adj or n (1998)
1: descendants of the ancient empire of Ashur
2: the Assyrians, although representing but one single
nation as the direct heirs of the ancient Assyrian Empire, are now
doctrinally divided, inter sese, into five principle
ecclesiastically designated religious sects with their corresponding
hierarchies and distinct church governments, namely, Church of the
East, Chaldean, Maronite, Syriac Orthodox and Syriac Catholic.
These formal divisions had their origin in the 5th century of the
Christian Era. No one can coherently understand the Assyrians
as a whole until he can distinguish that which is religion or church
from that which is nation -- a matter which is particularly
difficult for the people from the western world to understand; for
in the East, by force of circumstances beyond their control,
religion has been made, from time immemorial, virtually into a
criterion of nationality.
3:
the Assyrians have been referred to as Aramaean, Aramaye, Ashuraya,
Ashureen, Ashuri, Ashuroyo, Assyrio-Chaldean, Aturaya, Chaldean,
Chaldo, ChaldoAssyrian, ChaldoAssyrio, Jacobite, Kaldany, Kaldu,
Kasdu, Malabar, Maronite, Maronaya, Nestorian, Nestornaye, Oromoye,
Suraya, Syriac, Syrian, Syriani, Suryoye, Suryoyo and Telkeffee. —
Assyrianism verb
Aramaic
\ar-é-'máik\
n (1998)
1: a Semitic language which became the lingua franca of
the Middle East during the ancient Assyrian empire.
2: has been referred to as Neo-Aramaic, Neo-Syriac, Classical
Syriac, Syriac, Suryoyo, Swadaya and Turoyo.
