Grindavík resident denies gun threat allegations: “The worst day of my life”

The 70-year-old man arrested in Grindavík yesterday on charges of threatening rescue workers with a firearm denies any wrongdoing and is now considering legal action.

“This was the worst day of my life,” says Hermann Ólafsson, a longtime Grindavík resident and former CEO of the fishing company Stakkavík.

Ólafsson claims the incident was a misunderstanding and insists that he was joking when he pointed a shotgun in the air while posing for a photo at the request of a rescue worker. However, shortly after, special forces officers stopped him, accusing him of threatening behavior and taking him into custody.

The event shocked the rescue worker involved, who later received support from the Red Cross.

Article on Iceland Monitor

Gunman arrested during Grindavík evacuation

The incident: A misinterpreted joke?

According to Ólafsson, the events unfolded after the eruption began in Grindavík. He and two employees had traveled to Staður, a farm southwest of the town, to retrieve a boom lift for feeding his sheep.

He says he was granted permission by the rescue team to enter the town.

“A girl from the rescue team called me and said: I’m sending rescuers to you out at Staður,” Ólafsson explains.

When he arrived, the rescue team was already there, and one of the members asked to take a photo of him.

As a former fox hunter, Ólafsson says he decided to jokingly pose with his shotgun, holding it pointed in the air through the truck window.

“Wouldn’t you like to get one from the farmer with a shotgun?” he quipped.

According to him, the rescue workers laughed, and there was no sign of distress or concern at the time.

Arrested by Special Forces: “They almost killed me”

But as he left town with the boom lift, he encountered a convoy of police and special forces vehicles.

“They came running out of the car,” he recalls.

The officers ordered him out of the truck, accusing him of displaying threatening behavior.

Ólafsson says he tried to explain that the shotgun was part of a photo-op and posed no threat.

Before he could exit the vehicle himself, officers forcibly removed him.

“They threw me into the street, hands behind my back. I was paralyzed,” he says, adding that he recently underwent shoulder surgery.

“They almost killed me, these thugs.”

He was then transported to a detention center in Keflavík, where he was held in a cell without his phone.

Reputation destroyed: “I want to sue”

After being released following interrogation, Ólafsson was shocked to see the case making headlines across the country.

“My reputation has been destroyed. This is a pile of lies from A to Z,” he says.

Adding to his frustration, Minister of Justice Þorbjörg Sigríður Gunnlaugsdóttir condemned the alleged threat.

“All this lying and nonsense… You are just defenseless,” he laments.

Ólafsson is now considering legal action against the police, special forces, and the rescue team, demanding a public apology and full exoneration.

“I expect those involved to show some dignity, make a public apology, and clear my name of this disgrace.”