Policeman 'slipped' in shooting incident?

Photo: policja.pl

The shooting followed a gruesome incident in the town of Zyrardow, 45 km west of Warsaw, in the early hours of Sunday morning, during which a 29-year-old man had his hand severed by a band of assailants outside a nightclub.

On Sunday evening, officers halted a car that was carrying four men.

“While the car was being stopped in a dramatic action, an accidental shot was fired from the gun of one of the officers after he slipped,” police spokesperson Alicja Sledziona told the TVN24 news channel.

A man was taken to hospital with an arm wound, but it later turned out that the four men had nothing to do with the nightclub assault.

Anti-terrorist police had been called in owing to concerns that the assailants were heavily armed.

“During a detailed examination of the crime scene [outside the nightclub], police officers found shells from firearms,” Sledziona stressed.

The incident has shocked the town, amid suggestions that organised criminals were involved.

“These are circles that have something at stake between them,” one inhabitant told Polish Radio.

Besides having his right hand severed, the 29-year-old man had three fingers cut off on his left hand. He was taken to a hospital in Szczecin, northern Poland.

Three more men were arrested on Monday, but no details have emerged yet as to whether they will be charged. (vj/nh)