Charges pressed against Swedish policemen who killed autistic man

Swedish prosecutors announced charges Friday against three police officers for the fatal shooting last year of an autistic man with Down Syndrome who was stopped while holding a toy gun.

Prosecutor Martin Tiden said that the deciding factor for the charges was that the officers had continued to fire at 20-year old Eric Torell even after he had turned his back to them.

Tiden concluded that the officers had failed to assess whether Torell could still be considered a threat after each shot fired.

“If they had, they would have understood that Eric didn’t pose a threat,” Tiden told Swedish news agency TT.

The officers who fired the fatal shot was charged with involuntary manslaughter. The other two were charged with professional misconduct.

The charges stem from an incident in August last year when police officers responded to reports of an armed man in central Stockholm.

Around 4 am (0200 GMT) on that day, the three police officers confronted Torell, who was handling a toy gun at the time.

According to the charge sheet filed in a Stockholm court, Torell pointed the toy gun at the police officers, leading them to open fire and killing him.

Torell, who had run away from home, was described by his parents as someone operating on the mental level of a three-year-old.

The case sparked outrage in Sweden and criticism was directed at the police who had reportedly shot a total of 25 times, with three shots hitting Torell.