STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 20 (UPI) -- About 100 vehicles were set ablaze in a riot in a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, in what a group claims was a reaction to the police shooting of an elderly man.
A car set on fire in a nearby garage caused about 50 people to be evacuated from their apartment building, the Swedish news agency TT reported Monday.
Police said they were met by about 50 to 60 youths throwing stones when they responded to a disturbance in the suburb of Husby about 10 p.m. Sunday. The disturbance grew into a pair of riots in which vehicles were set on fire and a local shopping center vandalized.
Forty police officers and firefighters responded to the scene.
Three officers were injured.
Rami al-Khamisi, a representative for a community-based organization, said the disturbance was in "reaction to police brutality against citizens, our neighbors."
Police fatally shot a 69-year-old man in Husby May 13 who allegedly was threatening police with a machete. Police initially claimed he died at a hospital from his wounds but later said he had died at the scene.
During Sunday's night disturbance, a local youth leader said he and members of his group approached the police and offered to help.
Police allegedly responded by using a slur and calling his companions monkeys, The Local.se reported. The police also allegedly attacked the group with batons.
Calm to the area was restored about 5:30 a.m. Monday. Police said no arrests were made.
