Swedish artist threatened for Muhammad sketch dies in crash

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Police say Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who had lived under police protection since his 2007 sketch of the Prophet Muhammad with a dog’s body brought death threats, has died in a traffic accident. He was 75. Carina Persson, police chief for southern Sweden, said Vilks and two plainclothes police bodyguards were killed in a head-on crash with a truck on Sunday. She said the police car veered into the path of the truck and both vehicles burst into flames. The truck driver was hospitalized with serious injuries. Two investigations were taking place. Chief Prosecutor Kajsa Sundgren was investigating into whether “any police officer may have committed a crime in connection with the accident.” Police were also investigating whether the crash was caused by someone else.