The suspect looked fairly relaxed as she arrived at the negotiations, reported the TT news agency.

She denies having committed any crime, but is suspected of having committed an unusual crime classified as “violating the peace of the dead” (brott mot griftefriden).

Swedish national television SVT reported that the woman was originally suspected of murder, as witnesses called the police on Wednesday evening after hearing gun shots fired from a window. On arriving, the police found parts of a skeleton in the woman’s apartment.

“There are several skeleton parts,” said the Västra Götaland police force’s press spokesman Thomas Fuxborg to SVT.

The bones may come from a graveyard, or from a hospital, but they might also be the result of a murder, reported SVT.

The Aftonbladet newspaper spoke with several children who heard the suspect bragging about having knives, weapons and dead bodies at home.

“She said, ‘I’ve killed people and there’s blood everywhere,” said one of the teenagers to Aftonbladet.

The children then saw her go up to her apartment, and fire a gun shot.

The police’s technical investigation has determined that the bones are human, but they have not been able to determine whether the bones come from a man or a woman, or indeed if they come from several different people.

The negotiations began at 1.30pm, and are being held behind closed doors.

The crime can lead to up to two years in prison.