“Suspicions against the 16-year-old have weakened during his time in custody. He is no longer suspected of a crime,” prosecutor Andreas Nyberg said in a statement.

Two men around the ages of 25 and 35 were arrested yesterday suspected of “incitement to murder”, while a third man in his 20s was arrested overnight suspected of murder, the statement said.

Three youths aged 15 to 20 were killed in Tuesday’s shooting in broad daylight at a hair salon in central Uppsala, about 70km north of Stockholm.

The shooting shocked Sweden amid rising concern over gang violence, though police have not confirmed that the shooting was gang-related.

Swedish media have reported that at least one of the dead had connections to a criminal gang, though police have not confirmed those reports.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Wednesday called the shooting “an extremely violent act”, saying it looked “like an execution”.

Uppsala is home base for Sweden’s two most notorious gangs, Rumba and Foxtrot.

Their leaders, Ismail Abdo and Rawa Majid, are both now believed to be orchestrating operations from abroad.

Sweden has struggled for years to rein in gang conflicts, which have led to frequent shootings and bombings across the country that have occasionally claimed innocent victims.