Norrmalmstorg Robbery

Old bank branch building in Norrmalmstorg.

The Norrmalmstorg robbery occurred in Sweden in 1973. It is notorious for what is later known as Stockholm Syndrome, coined after it.

On August 23, 1973, Jan-Erik "Janne" Olsson entered a Kreditbanken branch in Norrmalmstorg, in central Stockholm. The police were immediately alerted and as two officers entered, Olsson fired at them, wounding one of them. Olsson took four hostages and demanded that Clark Olofsson, who was serving a sentence at the time, be called in, plus SEK 3 million, two revolvers, body armor, helmets and a vehicle.

Olofsson was brought in and a communication link was established with the police negotiators. One of the hostages, Kristin Enmark, had said that she felt safe with the robbers, but she feared that the police might cause trouble using violent methods, a psychological reaction later known as Stockholm syndrome.

The robbers blocked the way to the main vault along with the hostages, but the doors to the vault were locked. On the third day, Olsson threatened to kill the hostages if the police attempted a gas attack and placed a noose around their necks so that they would strangle in the event of a gas attack.

Six days after the failed robbery, on August 28 the police decided to use tear gas and after half an hour the robbers surrendered. No one was physically injured.