Criminals threatened to blow up police station

Two seasoned criminals threatened to blow up themselves and the police station in Kristianstad in southern Sweden on Thursday morning. The drama ended when the men gave up shortly before 5am.

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Police were able to then arrest the two men who surrendered without anyone being hurt.

Peter Martinsson, the commanding police officer, stated that he was happy with how the situation had been handled.

"It is comforting that no one was physically hurt, neither members of the public, nor our staff or the two men," he said to news agency TT.

According to TT's reporter at the scene, training clothes and two pairs can be seen in the foyer of the police station. Further inside the premises is some tape, while on a table is a bottle of vodka and some cigarettes.

Outside the building the police reinforcements have been dispersed and the cordons have been removed.

Anders Wiklander at Kristianstad police said that they did not at first believe the threat when the two men forced their way into the building. It was only when they showed a detonator and controller that the threat was taken seriously.

One of the men also explained that he had prior convictions for violent crimes.

"This naturally had a significant role in establishing the validity of the threat," Wiklander said.

Wiklander said that a police officer in attendance recognised one of the would-be bombers and was able to assist with persuading the man to give himself up. The officer was assisted by police negotiation experts.

The two men have now been arrested and detained. They were held without any resistance.

The men are suspected of aggravated unlawful threats, but other charges may be added as the investigation progresses.

The nature of the men's grievance against Kristianstad police remained unclear on Thursday morning.

"They have not been interviewed yet, they will be during the morning," Ingvar Widell at north-east Skåne police to news agency TT.

But according to Peter Martinsson, the men have given some indication as to their motives.

"They have mentioned that they are dissatisfied with society and the police. But they have not been more specific than that as far as I know," he said.

Anders Wiklander explained that the men entered the police station at 12.15am. They forced their way through reception by threatening to blow themselves up.

"We managed to get our colleague out and lock them (the men) in the foyer," Wiklander said.

Officers at the scene had noted that they both appeared to be holding detonators and that one of the men had a device in his hand.

"They also showed that they had something taped to their stomachs," he said.

The man were able to leave the police station by the same route from which they had come. But the station was surrounded and a security barrier prevented them from entering the part of the building occupied by Wiklander and the other police personnel.

Anders Wiklander told TT that one of the arrested men was born in 1986, the other in 1987. The pair both have prior convictions for weapons offences and violent crime, he confirmed.

"They both have criminal records," he said.

Kaj Svensson the principal safety representative at Skåne police, plans to call a meeting to discuss security at police stations across the county.

"This may result in us conducting a review of security at the stations to see whether security can be improved or if it's okay as it is?"

The police that were involved in Wednesday night's drama have been taken care of by colleagues and will be offered a de-briefing in the coming days.