Kjell Rune Pedersen (56) and the fire brigade had to disarm a naked man with knives in Risør on Saturday. The police were too far away to help.
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Many were frightened and called the police when they met the man in the center of Risør, but the police were on another assignment and could not help.
– Fortunately, the fire brigade came instead, says Kjell Rune Pedersen (56) from Tønsberg who was on a cabin trip in Risør.
– One of the firefighters seemed professional and put the person on the ground, so we could take each of our wrists and release the knives.
He and his friend Erik Ilestad (50) had been to the fish reception and bought shrimp when they supported the man, who was trying to get into the doctor’s office.
– Almost three quarters of an hour
– When the doctor’s office was closed, he started walking towards the center, where there was an event and many people, so then we called the police. They had received the first message at 12.45, and when the fire brigade and health personnel had control of the situation so that we could leave the place, at 13.25, the police were still not in place. That is almost three quarters of an hour later, says Pedersen.
He wonders why the police are so far away when so many people are gathered in the city center.
Busy on another assignment
– The police were busy on another assignment and could not come right away, explains operations manager in Agder police district Lars Hyberg, who emphasizes that he himself was not present and does not know the details of the response time.
– Several phone calls came in from different people and I understand that this was perceived as dramatic, but fire, ambulance and police have had joint training for this type of problem. Using force is usually our task, but it is good that the fire service can use it when necessary, as in this case, says Hyberg.
He praises the efforts of the fire service.
– They deserve credit for how they got control of the person and made sure that he got help and was left to health, says the operations manager.
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