An award-winning 19-year-old Swedish rapper was fatally shot in the country’s capital in an incident that media reports suggested could be gang-related.

The rapper Einar was hit by several bullets in the Hammarby suburb south of central Stockholm and died at the scene late on Thursday, police spokesman Ola Osterling told the Swedish news agency TT.

Police were looking for at least two suspects.

The motive of the shooting remained unclear but the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported that the rapper had received several threats recently.

According to the Swedish public broadcaster SVT, the rapper’s shooting was gang-related.

Einar, whose real name is Nils Gronberg, was born in Stockholm and rose to fame at the age of 16 when his song Katten I Trakten from his debut album Forsta Klass topped the Swedish charts in 2019.

He was awarded the song of the year award in 2019 and the newcomer of the year award a year later.

Sweden has seen a rise in organised crime activity in the past few years and several gang-related shootings have occurred in Stockholm, Goteborg and Malmo.