ZCZC
BFF-51
SWEDEN-POLICE-INVESTIGATION-HEALTH
Swedish police probed for killing Down Syndrome man with toy gun
STOCKHOLM, Aug 3, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Swedish police were under
investigation Friday for shooting dead a 20-year-old autistic man with Down
Syndrome holding a toy gun in central Stockholm, the special prosecutor’s
office said.
“This is a very tragic incident and I understand that many people want
quick answers,” chief prosecutor Martin Tiden, who is leading the
investigation over suspected misconduct, said in a statement.
Eric Torell was shot dead by a police patrol in the residential
neighbourhood of Vasastan around 4am (0200 GMT) Thursday, after he ran away
from home with a toy gun.
“The man was holding an object similar to a weapon which the police
interpreted as a hostile situation and opened fire,” the prosecutor said,
adding no police officer was currently suspected of any crime.
Daily Aftonbladet reported that three police officers shot the man who,
according to his family, had a three-year-old’s intellectual capabilities and
difficulties communicating.
The special prosecutor’s office would meanwhile only confirm that “more
than one officer fired a service weapon”.
Vasastan is a high-income and centrally located residential neighbourhood,
not associated with the crime and shootings that have plagued some other
Stockholm suburbs.
“We are completely destroyed… We are in a state of shock,” the victim’s
mother Katarina Soderberg told Aftonbladet.
“He wasn’t capable of being threatening. The only thing he could do was to
hug and kiss,” she told the local Mitt i Stockholm newspaper, adding he was
like “the kindest and most peaceful teddy bear in the world”.
The man frequently ran off on his own, according to his father Rickard
Torell, adding he could not understand why police had shot his son.
“They said he was carrying a replica of a gun. That’s not true. It was a
miniature toy gun for a five-year-old… cheap too, and plastic,” Torell told
Mitt i Stockholm.
“How could there not have been an alternative to shooting him dead? Why not
a warning shot?,” Eric’s mother said.
Regional police chief Ulf Johansson said in a statement on Friday it was “a
horrific incident and my thoughts are with his family and friends.”
“This is very tragic for everyone involved and I have a great understanding
and respect for the fact that this incident has caused a lot of upset
feelings,” he added.
Six people have died so far this year after having been shot by the police,
authorities said.
BSS/AFP/RY/1655 hrs