Young man with Down's Syndrome carrying a toy gun shot dead by police

Tragic: Police in Sweden opened fire on the young man who they believed was carrying a real gun
AFP/Getty Images
Chloe Chaplain3 August 2018

A young man with Down’s Syndrome and autism has died after being shot by police in Sweden while carrying a toy gun.

Local media reported that Eric Torell, 20, was shot by officers in Stockholm in response to what they described as a "threatening situation" in the early hours of Thursday morning.

He had been reported missing by his family after disappearing from his home hours earlier and was carrying the toy gun, which had been a gift.

Mr Torell’s mother, Katarina Söderberg, said her son was "the world's kindest man" who “wouldn't hurt a fly”.

Ms Söderberg told Swedish newspaper Expressen that her son was severely disabled and struggled with his speech, only ever really using the word "mum".

Police said the shooting happened at 4am local time (3am BST) when they were called to reports of a man in possession of a gun.

Officers reportedly ordered Mr Torell to discard what they believed to be a dangerous weapon and opened fire when he failed to comply and acted "threateningly", police said.

The young man was taken to hospital but was later confirmed dead from his injuries. An investigation has been launched into the incident.

Ms Söderberg said her son had left home a number of times previously but had always been found or returned by himself.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in