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What we know about the Malmö train station 'bomb scare' so far

The Local Sweden
The Local Sweden - [email protected]
What we know about the Malmö train station 'bomb scare' so far
No explosives were found in the man's bags. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

UPDATED: A man who was shot by police in Malmö's central train station after threatening he was carrying weapons and a bomb has been identified as an Italian citizen.

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Sweden's prosecution authority on Monday evening formally arrested the man, after police seized him earlier in the day. Several witnesses said the man had thrown a sports bag on the ground in Malmö's main train station at around 10am and shouted in English that he had a bomb.

When police arrived the man continued to behave threateningly, and during the confrontation a police officer fired their service weapon, shooting the man in his legs. He was taken to hospital by ambulance.

In a press conference on Tuesday morning, police said there were no weapons or explosives found in the mans' two bags. A bomb squad detonated both bags just before noon.

"There was nothing that was dangerous at all," local police chief Andy Roberts said. 

This has resulted in a change in the police's classification of the suspected crime, which has been downgraded from attempted murder to gross unlawful threats.

Police also said they had confirmed the man's identity as an Italian citizen, after stating on Monday that they were working with police in other countries to identify him. He had been carrying several different identity documents in his belongings.

According to regional newspaper Kvällsposten, the man is believed to be 44 years old and an EU citizen who came to Sweden from Italy in spring 2018, using an Italian passport to get a Swedish personal identity number.

Police said on Tuesday the man was not known to police before Monday's incident, but Roberts said the man had worked at a company which police had been in contact with.

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The train station was cordoned off for hours on Monday, but traffic resumed shortly after 3pm.

A witness told the Sydsvenskan newspaper that the man had been "screaming at the top of his voice and threatening that he had a bomb. Some people were afraid, but others thought the same as me: 'this person is a nutter'."

When no one reacted to the bag the man had thrown on the ground, he picked it up and threw it back to the floor, the witness said. "When the police came, he shouted, 'this is for real. I have a pistol'."

Shortly after he was shot with around two or three bullets to his legs, according to police, and taken to hospital.

Separate from the criminal investigation against the man, a special inquiry will also take a closer look at the shooting, which is routine when an officer fires their service weapon at another person.

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