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Man injured in shooting outside Malmö restaurant

A man has been injured in a shooting outside a restaurant in the Heleneholm area of Malmö.

Published: 13 March 2017 17:19 CET

Man injured in shooting outside Malmö restaurant

Police at the scene of the shooting. Photo: Emil Langvad/TT

The alarm was raised just before 4pm on Monday when someone heard several shots on the southern Swedish city's Ystadsvägen road.

Several witnesses saw the incident, according to police.

“We are speaking with witnesses just now in order to get as consistent a picture as possible,” police press spokesperson Calle Persson told Swedish news agency TT.

The area where the incident took place has been cordoned off and police technicians are working at the scene.

The injured man was taken to hospital in an ambulance and it is currently unclear how seriously injured he is. Police have also travelled to the hospital to identify him and speak with him if possible.

Malmö to bring in reinforcements from Norway and Denmark ahead of Eurovision

Authorities vowed “visible” measures including police with submachine guns and reinforcements from Denmark and Norway around the event, ending with the final on May 11th.

Normally associated with rhinestones and kitsch, this year the competition has become a more controversial affair as critics have called for Israel to be banned from competing, with the war in Gaza entering its seventh month.

Sweden’s third largest city, Malmö is home to over 360,000 inhabitants spanning 186 nationalities, and a large part of the country’s population is of Palestinian origin.

At least half a dozen applications have been filed for demonstration permits to protest the Israeli presence at the competition, which is organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) together with Sweden’s public broadcaster SVT.

City authorities say the situation is under control.

“For the various events linked to Eurovision, security measures will be clearly visible,” the city’s security director, Per-Erik Ebbestahl, told a press conference.

Security checks will be stepped up, in particular for access to the various sites, where bags will mostly be prohibited, he said.

The police presence will also be strengthened, with reinforcements coming from Norway and Denmark, and officers will be more heavily armed than normal.

“There will be a lot of police in Malmö this time, with their usual armament, but also with heavier weapons” including submachine guns, said Petra Stenkula, chief of Malmö police.

“We are not used to seeing them in Sweden and Malmö,” Stenkula said.

The executive producer of the event for SVT, Ebba Adielsson, told AFP the security plan was “extremely stable”.

“Now what scares me the most is that people are too afraid” to participate in the event, she continued.

More than 100,000 visitors are expected to come to Malmö in the week leading up to the event.

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