Gothenburg police hunt third Ikea armed robber

Police in Gothenburg are holding two men who they believe robbed an Ikea store in Kållered, south of the city, on Wednesday evening.

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The men are known to police for having taken part in previous robberies and police say they are seeking a third man, with more possibly involved.

Three masked men, armed with an AK5, an automatic shotgun, and a silver-coloured revolver, raided the Ikea just before closing time. Two entered the store while the third waited outside.

Five cash tills were still open and around 30 customers were in the vicinity. The robbery was over within a few minutes and the men disappeared with an unknown sum of money.

"For security reasons we can't reveal how much cash there was in the tills and how often they are emptied," said Fredrik Wahrolén, head of information at Ikea Sweden, to TT.

"I don't believe that this happens more to Ikea than to others - the risk of robbery is a threat which everyone in the retail business has to live with."

Several police patrols were called into the search after the robbery and roadblocks were set up in the area. A member of the public reported that a car was spotted driving at high speed through the Varberg area and shortly afterwards it was stopped in Halmstad.

The two people in the car were held overnight on suspicion of serious robbery, and on Thursday morning they were taken to Gothenburg for police interrogation.

The search for the third person is continuing and police are attempting to establish whether more people were involved. The two men who are being held are known to the police in connection with other robberies.

"Even if we don't know for sure yet that we have the right men, there are circumstances surrounding these two which make them very interesting to us," said Linda Ottosson at Gothenburg police.

A car which was on fire in Ikea's car park is to be examined by forensic specialists. It was set alight a couple of hours after the robbery, leading police to believe that more than the three people were involved.

Ikea staff were informed of the events on Thursday morning.

"We were looking after those who witnessed the robbery throughout the evening," said Fredrik Wahrolén.

"Many were shaken by it."

TT/The Local