Updated 01.40 | Published 01.01
Fires, assaults – and police being attacked with fireworks.
It has been a messy New Year’s Eve in several parts of the country.
– It is of course dangerous to shoot fireworks at other people, says Rickard Lundqvist, press spokesperson at the police region South.
While Sweden celebrates the new year, violence and accidents have already occurred in several parts of the country.
At 21.35 the police and emergency services were called to Gamlegården in Kristianstad, where three cars were on fire and a fourth had been damaged by the heat. But during the work on site, the rescue personnel were bombarded with fireworks.
– We are sent to the scene due to a fire in several vehicles. The emergency services have taken care of the extinguishing, of course. Then the personnel of the emergency services have been shot at in connection with the extinguishing, and as I have understood it, the police have also been shot at on the spot, says Rickard Lundqvist, press spokesperson at the police region South.
“Certainly life-threatening”
No one should be injured, but Rickard Lundqvist is aware that it could have gone really badly.
– It is of course dangerous to shoot fireworks at other people, regardless of who it is, he says.
– The task of the emergency services is to help other people to repair damage and to give in to them in their work, and also to give in to the police, is of course reprehensible. The task of the emergency services is only to help, so of course it is serious.
No one has been arrested for the attack. The police have drawn up a report of sabotage against blue light operations, as well as a report of vandalism regarding the fires.
– We’ll see if we can identify someone who might have done it afterwards. We have camera surveillance at the site, but we will have to go through that material later, says Rickard Lundqvist.
Several fires
Rickard Lundqvist says that careless use of fireworks may be the reason why there were many fires in the region during New Year’s Eve.
– I’m not saying it’s like that, but considering the frequent shooting of fireworks, that could be the cause of fires that have occurred, he says.
– We receive a lot of calls that specifically refer to fireworks, and we have received that in the last week. But there are very few that directly target people, property or animals.
Boy stabbed
At around 8 p.m., a 15-year-old boy was found stabbed in Märsta outside Stockholm, according to information given to Aftonbladet. A boy of the same age was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
– The person has been taken to hospital and we have started a preliminary investigation into attempted murder, says Helena Boström Thomas, press spokesperson for the Stockholm Police.
The extent of the injuries is unclear, but according to the police, the person must have been awake and able to speak. The person was taken to hospital by ambulance helicopter.
Fire in school
Shortly after 8 p.m., the emergency services were called to a fire in a school building in Helsingborg. A boy between the ages of 15 and 18 is suspected of having caused the fire, the police say. At the same time, the emergency services went to Kallhäll in Järfälla, where a fire on a balcony had spread to an apartment building. Two people had to be taken to hospital by ambulance.
– They have suffered from smoke damage, says police spokesperson Helena Boström Thomas.
The police are investigating the fire as public dangerous devastation, causing bodily harm and public dangerous negligence.
– We are investigating how the fire started. We cannot rule out that it could be fireworks, but the investigation must be able to show that, says Helena Boström Thomas.
Barricaded himself in house
At 19:00 the police were called to a house in the south-eastern part of Östergötland. A suspected assault had taken place there. When the police arrived at the scene, a man had barricaded himself and poured flammable liquid into the home, according to the police officer on duty, Torbjörn Lindkvist, which Corren was the first to report.
– There is nothing to say that he took up arms, but we are not in sight of him all the time so it is difficult to say what he has in his hands, said Torbjörn Lindkvist.
The man is suspected of having attacked two women, his partner and mother-in-law. They had left the building, the police said.
At 22.23 a man had been arrested at the scene.
Shoot rockets at police
On Marcustorget in Avesta, unrest arose in connection with the battle of twelve.
– In connection with the stroke of twelve, we were on site in the square where there were a lot of people, says Rasmus Eriksson, officer on duty at the police in the Bergslagen region.
– Rockets have been fired at police patrols there, but other people have also been fired at, there were large crowds there.
Four people are suspected of sabotage against blue light operations. At least one of them has been arrested, the police say.
– We have a fairly large effort going on right now, says Rasmus Eriksson.
The police have no information on injuries.
– We haven’t had to have an ambulance there, but apparently someone has been hit by a rocket. No colleague but no one in the public, but nothing serious seems to have happened.
Fireworks at Burger King
At 01:05 on New Year’s morning, the police were alerted to Burger King in Örebro, where rockets had been fired inside restaurants.
– It was a group of 10-15 people who hit something, it is not clear what it was, says Rasmus Eriksson, officer on duty at the police in the Bergslagen region.
No one is reported to have been injured.
– There were many cuts and burn marks on the floor. We are on site and working on this now.
At 01:10, the police had not classified the incident as a crime.