The police officer was wearing a protective vest and escaped relatively unscathed from the attack.

“There has not been any prior contact between them, the attack must have been completely unprovoked, he came from behind and stabbed with the knife,” said Sven-Erik Olsson at Stockholm police.

The man then made a lunge with the knife towards another police officer and subsequently attempted to flee the scene, but police were able to arrest him.

The man is now suspected of attempted murder.

The suspect denies the charges although he admits having been at the scene of the incident. The man’s lawyer, Ekrem Güngör revealed that his client is not feeling very well.

A short interrogation was held with the suspect on Saturday.

Stureplan is a busy nightlife area in the plush Östermalm area of central Stockholm and is often the scene of disturbances, especially on weekend evenings. Police officers are routinely deployed to the area to observe and to maintain order.

TT/The Local/pvs

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