Police fire shots at suspected teen arsonists

Police in a Stockholm suburb responding to a suspected case of arson on Tuesday night fired shots at a car carrying three teenagers who tried to run the police officers down as they attempted to flee.

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Two officers from Handen. in Haninge south of Stockholm. fired three shots at the vehicle, which was carrying three 15-year-old youths. Neither the teens nor the officers were injured in the incident.

Police received a call shortly after 9pm alerting them that flames had engulfed a summer cabin in nearby Trångsund.

When police tried to stop a car suspected of having been at the scene of the fire, the driver revved the engine and turned the vehicle directly toward the police.

When the car then accelerated, one officer fired two shots. The second officer then fired one more round, according to police spokesperson Mats Nylén.

“We don’t know why they set the house on fire. At this point there’s nothing to indicate any motive other than amusement,” he told the TT news agency.

The youths are old enough to face criminal charges, but due to their young ages it remains unclear how prosecutors will proceed with the case, said Nylén.

While the fact that the police officers used their firearms has been reported, there are currently no suspicions that they acted inappropriately, according to Nylén.