Spanish police said Tuesday they fired on a truck loaded with butane gas bottles which was driving the wrong way down a road in Barcelona, managing to stop it and detain the Swedish driver.
« We detained a person who was of Swedish nationality, » a spokesman for police in the popular Spanish Mediterranean resort city said.
Barcelona’s city hall said the small white truck — which had dozens of orange gas bottles stacked on the back in plain view — had been stolen.
There was no indication as yet whether this was an attempted attack or just a plain robbery.
Mireia Ruiz, a woman who saw the truck from her home nearby, said the driver ignored people screaming at him to stop as he sped down the wrong side of a ring road.
« When people shouted at him, he would laugh and make offensive gestures with his hand, » she said.
Police did not say whether there were any injuries.
Around 20 police officers and at least six police cars were on site, and several gas bottles were lying on the ground, an AFP correspondent reported.
The trace of at least one gunshot was visible on the windscreen of the truck.
