Jan olsson norrmalmstorgsdramat
Jan-Erik Olsson and Clark Olofsson. The Norrmalmstorg robbery was a bank robbery and hostage crisis that occurred at the Norrmalmstorg Square in Stockholm, Sweden, in August and was the first crime in Sweden to be covered by live television. It is best known as the origin of the term Stockholm syndrome. [1]. He has received sentences for attempted murder , assault , robbery , and dealing narcotics , and has spent more than half of his life in prison in Sweden.
Olofsson has been called Sweden's first "celebrity gangster". Olofsson faced a tumultuous childhood marked by familial challenges. Growing up amidst extensive alcohol problems, he endured the departure of his father and his mother's subsequent illness, which led to the placement of Olofsson and his two younger sisters in foster care. Determined to escape an unhappy foster family, Olofsson forged his mother's signature at the age of 15 and enrolled in a sailors' school.
Embarking on the ship Ballade , he sailed around the world, gaining a unique perspective between Japan and South America. Returning home at 15, Olofsson reunited with his mother, who had regained stability. Despite earlier adversities, the family settled in Gothenburg , where Olofsson's journey took a criminal turn. Convicted for various offenses in the s, including burglary and assault, Olofsson gained notoriety for his involvement in the killing of a police officer during a robbery.
Multiple prison escapes characterized his criminal career, with notable incidents like the Norrmalmstorg robbery , coining the term " Stockholm syndrome ". Throughout the s and s, Olofsson continued a pattern of escapes, criminal activities, and imprisonments, marked by a marriage in Kumla Prison. Despite his turbulent criminal history, Olofsson pursued education, studying journalism while incarcerated. Released in , he left Sweden with his wife, settling in Belgium.
However, his criminal activities persisted, resulting in a drug smuggling conviction in The subsequent decades saw Olofsson's involvement in various criminal enterprises, leading to multiple arrests, imprisonments, and deportation. His life story, filled with escapes, convictions, and legal battles, became the subject of films, documentaries, and a Netflix drama series in , portraying the complex and notorious figure of Clark Olofsson.
Olofsson was born on 1 February in Trollhättan , Sweden, into a home with extensive alcohol problems. Olofsson had two younger sisters. When Clark was 11 years old, his father left the family and soon after, his mother fell ill and was admitted to Lillhagens psychiatric hospital in Hisings Backa. On the ship Ballade , a year-old Olofsson sailed around the world, including between Japan and South America. The children were returned to her care and they moved to an apartment in Slätta Damm on Hisingen , Gothenburg.
Norrmalmstorgsdramat
The family later moved to Köldgatan in Biskopsgården. For several petty crimes, sixteen-year-old Olofsson was placed in a behavioural institution for young offenders in In late , he made his first escape from the prison at Tidaholm.
On 29 July , police officers Ragnar Sandahl and Lennart Mathiasson responded to a burglary at a bicycle shop at Skjutsaregatan in Nyköping. Norgren gave up after the police fired several shots through the door to the apartment. Olofsson had escaped from the apartment before police entered and managed to elude them for two weeks but was eventually arrested on 25 August in Grimmaredsskogen in Västra Frölunda.
Via telephone tapping, the police found out that Olofsson and his year-old girlfriend were to meet at a special mountain hill in Grimmaredsskogen. Two policemen disguised as orienteers , Bertil Brosved and Ulf Högenberg, tried to arrest him at the same time as Olofsson pulled a pistol out of his waistband and fired two shots. Högenberg was hit in the shoulder. Olofsson was first sentenced to ten years in prison, but the Court of Appeal changed the sentence to eight years.
He was escorted to the ferry in Travemünde where two Swedish police officers met him. He was then taken via Malmö back to the Kumla Prison.
50 år sedan Norrmalmstorgsdramat
Olsson demanded that Olofsson be allowed to come to the bank. Olofsson was brought to the bank, where he spent the next six days with the hostages. This event subsequently led to the creation of the phrase " Stockholm syndrome. He had, according to himself, acted to protect the hostages and had the silent consent of the police. He sought pardon from the government but the application was rejected along with his request to study law.
Olofsson escaped from the Norrköping prison on 20 March In April that year, he went into a bank in Copenhagen with a gun in each hand, fired a warning shot, and robbed the bank of SEK , Together with a companion, he bought the sailboat Saga for 50, francs, and for three months they sailed around the Mediterranean. With the help of Inger and Mikael von Heijne from Djursholm , on their way home from the Caribbean , Olofsson got on the right course and finally reached Ireland.
Olofsson escaped and it was not until January that the police caught up with him and managed to track him down at a crossroads outside Brussels.