Tampere man questions police after officer points gun

A Tampere man has questioned why police did not speak to him after an officer pointed a gun at him, Yle reported. The incident was captured on video on Wednesday evening, and the Prosecutor General will decide in the coming days whether to launch a preliminary investigation.

The man opened the driver’s-side door of a van that was running by the roadside because he could not see anyone inside. A figure then appeared from behind the front seats and pointed a handgun at him.

The encounter ended quickly. The man closed the door and walked home.

“Nothing happened after that. That is what is strange. You would think that after something like that, the police should stop and find out who had been threatened with a gun,” he told Yle.

The man said he had approached the vehicle because it was running but appeared to be empty. He added that it looked somewhat like a police vehicle. He happened to have his phone in his hand, and the camera turned on as he walked towards the van.

Yle has not published the man’s name because doing so could be harmful to him. His identity is known to Yle. He said he had not previously made or published videos, for example on YouTube.

He initially posted the video on social media as a story that was visible for 24 hours. It spread after his followers asked for permission to share it.

Officer was conducting traffic enforcement alone

Yle’s verification team identified the weapon in the video as a pistol fitted with a light. Police use Glock and Walther pistols as service weapons.

Police confirmed on Monday that the officer who pointed the gun was conducting a traffic enforcement operation. Antero Rytkölä, deputy chief of the Central Finland Police Department, told Yle that the officer was alone.

The incident took place in Villilä, a quiet residential district in Tampere dominated by detached houses. The man questioned why police were conducting traffic enforcement there at around 9 p.m.

The man said he did not feel particularly tense after the encounter and went home and to bed. He has not filed a criminal complaint and is unsure whether he needs to do so. He is waiting to see how the prosecutor’s assessment proceeds.

State prosecutor Tapio Mäkinen will decide in the coming days whether a preliminary investigation will begin.