Three young men arrested Monday evening after a dispute involving death threats outside a Netto supermarket in Rødovre will be released once police finish questioning them. Officers found a pistol at the scene, but it was not loaded with live ammunition.
Københavns Vestegns Politi told Ritzau that the three men were detained after a confrontation in front of Netto Nørrekær in Rødovre, west of Copenhagen. Threats on life were made during the dispute, Avisen Danmark reports.
Duty officer Jannich Stæhr said overnight into Tuesday that the men will be freed once the final interviews are completed. Police currently treat the matter as a threats case, and he said the conditions for pre-trial detention are not considered met. Whether charges lead to punishment will depend on the investigation and the assessment of police lawyers.
Police say the sequence of events is unclear
According to Stæhr, investigators do not yet know precisely what took place outside the store, including who was threatened. On Monday evening, duty officer David Borchersen said the working theory is that two of the men were on one side of a conflict and one man on the other. One of the three called police at 20:33 to report the incident.
One of the men later sought treatment at Hvidovre Hospital for injuries connected to the episode. Se og Hør reports that officers tracked down the third person at the hospital, and that images from the scene showed several people being led away in DNA suits. The outlet also notes the men were initially charged with threats to kill.
Stæhr confirmed that a pistol was found. It was not loaded with live ammunition, and he said it is uncertain whether any shot was fired. That question forms part of the ongoing interviews. Borchersen said earlier that a shot may have been fired with a non-lethal weapon, possibly a signal pistol or a gas pistol.
Ekstra Bladet, reporting from the scene, describes a large police presence at a Netto in Rødovre after a reported fight. According to the newspaper, several people fled as the first patrol arrived, two were detained, and a reporter counted at least four patrol cars plus an incident commander.
One of the detained men is 18 years old and already known to police, Stæhr said. The two others are around 20 years old.
B.T. carries the same account, including the planned release after questioning and the discovery of the unloaded pistol. Københavns Vestegns Politi has not issued a separate written press release about the incident. Information has come through the duty officers’ statements to media.
