By Canadian Press

Swedish police shoot man threatening people at train station

Jun 12, 2019 | 4:17 AM

STOCKHOLM — Swedish police officers shot and wounded a man who was banging a bag on the ground and claiming to have a bomb at a train station in the city of Malmo, authorities and a witness said Monday.

Police evacuated the station, and a bomb squad searched it but found nothing dangerous, police spokeswoman Evelina Olsson said.

“We don’t know if he had a bomb, but probably not. It looks like it was nothing serious,” Olsson told The Associated Press, saying police would have more details later.

Police were alerted just after 10 a.m. that a man was behaving in a menacing way at Malmo’s central station.

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One witness, Malmo resident Fernando Valarino, said he was at the station waiting for a train when he saw a tall, bald man in a dark purple raincoat banging a duffel bag on the ground.

Valarino said the man appeared to be about 30 years old and “I thought initially that it was a crazy person.”

At first he couldn’t make out what the man was saying but then heard him yell “I’ve got a bomb” in English.

Valarino said he saw station employees remove people from the area before police arrived.

“He tried to run, and shots were fired. I definitely heard three shots, but maybe there were four,” Valarino, 25, told the AP by phone.

Officers shot the man in both legs and he remains hospitalized, but has so far been unwilling to explain his actions to police, Olsson said.

“We are still unsure of who he is,” she said.

___

Gera reported from Warsaw, Poland.

David Keyton And Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press