The Danish man who beheaded Swedish journalist Kim Wall attempted to escape from prison on Tuesday morning by claiming that he had a bomb, according to media reports in Denmark.
Footage from the scene showed Peter Madsen sitting by a fence in Albertsland surrounded by police, some of them armed, with a belt-like object around his stomach about 400-500 metres from the Herstedvester Prison.
Some of the officers present included bomb experts, Ekstra Blade reported. He was later detained and driven away.
Danish tabloid BT reported Madsen had taken a hostage and threatened prison staff with a pistol-like object to force his way out of the facility.
It quoted witnesses who said he managed to drive away in a white van before police stopped him.
Madsen was previously in isolation in prison over suspicions he was attempting to escape.
The 49-year-old was convicted of the murder of Ms Wall, 30, in 2017. He dismembered her body and dumped it at sea.
Madsen has denied murdering Ms Wall. He claims she died accidentally inside the submarine but he has confessed to throwing her body parts into the Baltic Sea.
She was a Swedish journalist who reported from around the world and was researching a story about Madsen.
A self-taught engineer, Madsen built rockets in his spare time but never went to university. In 2008, he launched his home-made UC3 Nautilus submarine.
