NZ Herald Morning Headlines | Tuesday, June 23, 2026.
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An investigation into whether enough was done to protect two children attacked by their father in Sweden has been launched by the town’s local board.
Two girls were allegedly shot by their own father, named by Alvesta locals as New Zealander Maui Koopu, whothen killed himself.
The attack, which Swedish news have reported was being treated as attempted murder, happened on June 13 in the small village of Lekaryd in Alvesta.
This week the board of the Alvesta municipality said it could not rule out the incident as “serious misconduct” and therefore made an immediate report to Ivo – Sweden’s government Health and Social Care Inspectorate, newspaper Smålandspostenreported.
“The circumstances indicate that there may have been shortcomings in the operation’s processing or implementation of interventions.”
New Zealand man Maui Koopu lived in the village of Lekaryd in Alvesta, Sweden.
There were no updates on the status of the two injured girls. One child was left in a critical condition and the other in a serious condition.
Administrative manager for work and learning Ulrika Boström did not want to comment on the initial report to Ivo into the incident provided by Smålandsposten.
Boström said she could not “confirm or deny” whether the report was linked to the Lekaryd case and referred all questions to Swedish police.
When approached by the Herald, Swedish police media could not provide information as the investigations continued.
In March last year, police began looking into allegations that Koopu had abused his former wife, but that investigation closed after one month, Smalandspostenreported.
Case papers with the Vaxjo District Court in Sweden showed his wife filed for divorce in June. Koopu twice appealed the application – once in August to the Court of Appeal, then to the Supreme Court in December. Both appeals were denied.
The couple’s divorce was reportedly finalised just two days before the attack. The divorce papers confirmed the couple had been living apart for more than two years, which met the criteria for a granting a divorce judgment.
The couple moved to Sweden in 2013 and built their own family home.
Crisis management was activated by the municipality and was offered to students and staff across Alvesta in the first four days after the incident.
It included keeping select schools open for the first few days of the school holidays to offer a safe space to those seeking comfort, as well as social support workers and the local church being involved.
Municipality head of administration Marit Persson confirmed to the Herald the girls were of secondary and primary school age.
