Down's syndrome man with toy gun killed by Swedish cops

[William Parcher]

Down's syndrome man with toy gun shot dead by Swedish police

A young man fatally shot by Swedish police while carrying a toy gun in Stockholm had Down's syndrome and a form of autism, local media report.

Officers opened fire on Eric Torell, 20, in response to what they described as a "threatening situation" in the early hours of Thursday morning.

He was reported missing after leaving home hours earlier, his family said.

Eric's mother, Katarina Söderberg, said the toy was a gift and she described her son as "the world's kindest man"...

The incident occurred at about 04:00 local time in the Vasastan district of the Swedish capital, Stockholm, after police responded to reports of a man in possession of a gun.

Three officers reportedly arrived at the scene and approached Eric before ordering him to discard what they believed to be a dangerous weapon. He was then shot after failing to comply and acting "threateningly", police said...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45050933

 

[theprestige]

Downs and autism both? That's really unlucky.

 

[TheGoldcountry]

The poor guy probably thought it was a game, and didn't understand the reality of the situation. I imagine the combo of Down's and autism would make it nearly impossible to respond in a "normal" fashion.

 

[Vixen]

I am shocked and appalled. It is obvious from this poor man's appearance he has Down's Syndrome.

 

[Brainster]

Those trigger happy Swedish cops!

 

[arthwollipot]

This is why in Australia, all toy guns are required to have bright orange tips to their barrels. From memory I think we had a few incidents like this back in the 80s, so we dealt with it. It's hard to mistake a toy gun or Nerf blaster for a real weapon here now.

 

[William Parcher]

Google images of Swedish toy guns seems to show orange tips. Many have quite a bit of orange at the front and not just the tip.

 

[arthwollipot]

Yes. It may also have been dark, which could well have added to the confusion.

 

[William Parcher]

It was dark.

The incident occurred at about 04:00 local time in the Vasastan district of the Swedish capital, Stockholm...

 

[Reactor drone]

This is why in Australia, all toy guns are required to have bright orange tips to their barrels. From memory I think we had a few incidents like this back in the 80s, so we dealt with it. It's hard to mistake a toy gun or Nerf blaster for a real weapon here now.

That's an American rule. I don't think Australia has any rule about that, it's just that manufacturers make their product to comply with the regulations of the largest market.

 

[arthwollipot]

That's an American rule. I don't think Australia has any rule about that, it's just that manufacturers make their product to comply with the regulations of the largest market.

I'm pretty sure we do, but I could be wrong. From the looks of it, it's probably pretty standard in most places.

 

[Shadowdweller]

Downs and autism both? That's really unlucky.

Incidence of ASD is much higher (like 25x) amongst those with Down's syndrome.

 

[Oystein]

Have you been in Stockholm in summer? Nights are amazingly short, dawn comes shortly after dusk.

It was dark.

 

[Tolls]

Have you been in Stockholm in summer? Nights are amazingly short, dawn comes shortly after dusk.

Sunrise was 4.30 on the day inquestion.
https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/sweden/stockholm?month=8

 

[uke2se]

A tragedy. The policeman who fired will be prosecuted for it. If he/she is convicted or not is not certain. It all depends on many factors that aren't covered in the newspapers.

 

[Blue Mountain]

Gah! The editing on the BBC article is atrocious. The correct term is Down Syndrome. The name never had either an "s" nor an "apostrophe-s" added to it. True, it's an exception to a large variety of named syndromes and diseases (Alzheimer's, Lou Gehrig's) that have such a construction, but look at the Wikipedia page of List of syndromes.. There are over 1400 entries on the list, and only 77 of them (5%) have 's in their names.

 

[angrysoba]

Gah! The editing on the BBC article is atrocious. The correct term is Down Syndrome. The name never had either an "s" nor an "apostrophe-s" added to it. True, it's an exception to a large variety of named syndromes and diseases (Alzheimer's, Lou Gehrig's) that have such a construction, but look at the Wikipedia page of List of syndromes.. There are over 1400 entries on the list, and only 77 of them (5%) have 's in their names.

No, in the UK it is usually referred to as Down’s Syndrome.

ETA: evidence - charity in the UK https://www.downs-syndrome.org.uk/for-new-parents/faqs/general/

 

[TubbaBlubba]

A tragedy. The policeman who fired will be prosecuted for it. If he/she is convicted or not is not certain. It all depends on many factors that aren't covered in the newspapers.

Going by law I would be surprised if this does not fall under putative self-defence. I'd expect it to result in negligent homicide at most.

 

[BowlOfRed]

Gah! The editing on the BBC article is atrocious. The correct term is Down Syndrome. The name never had either an "s" nor an "apostrophe-s" added to it.

This stack exchange answer suggests that in medical journals (and probably outside there as well) it was almost universally known as "Down's" prior to 1970.

And the actual paper referenced: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3642700/

 

[Arcade22]

According to DN's police source, there were incredibly unfortunate circumstances that led to the death of the 20-year-old. When the police at 03.48 was informed that an armed moving around in a courtyard in Vasastan, a routine query was made.

In the police's computer system there were intelligence data that a woman who had previously received death threats from a person convicted of violent crime stayed in the neighborhood.

The police therefore took the emergency call received by the armed man seriously and a large resource was sent to the site.

According to DN's source, the police were met directly by a person with a weapon-like object in his arms. The person did not respond to calls. Then three, or possibly two, of the police officers on location almost immediately shot once against the person who then died of his injuries.

https://www.dn.se/sthlm/poliskalla-till-dn-extrem-otur-ledde-till-dodsskjutningen/

Using physical force should always be done as a last resort when other means of persuasion has failed. The amount of force that's used needs to be proportional.

From the images I've seen it appears that the police had more than enough opportunity to simply disengage from this encounter, if only for a brief moment, and try to wait him out. Nothing suggests that anyone was in any immediate danger so there would be no need to bring the encounter to an swift end.

Likewise it's incredibly unprofessional if the police were to needlessly escalate the situation to a point where they felt a need to shoot someone only to protect their own lives and limbs.