The artist, Lars Vilks, had been under police protection since 2010, after his sketch prompted widespread condemnation from Muslims. He was killed along with two bodyguards in a crash that the police said was an accident.
Lars Vilks, an artist and free speech activist whose cartoon depiction of the Prophet Muhammad on the body of a dog in 2007 made him the target of numerous assassination attempts, was killed in a car crash in Sweden on Sunday, the police said. Mr. Vilks, who had been under police protection since 2010, was headed toward his home in southern Sweden when the civilian police vehicle he was traveling in veered across the median and collided head-on with a truck, killing Mr. Vilks,75, and his two bodyguards, the police said. The truck driver was taken to a hospital with serious injuries. “We are looking at the possibility that it was a tire explosion,” Stefan Sinteus, a regional police official, said during a news conference on Monday. “There is nothing at this point to indicate that this was an assassination.” Mr. Sinteus said the two police officers who were killed in the crash had worked with Mr. Vilks for several years. The accident occurred on Sunday afternoon along a four-lane highway in Markaryd, an area about 300 miles southwest of Stockholm.
