Deadly bow and arrow attack that left 5 dead in Norway appears to be act of terror, officials say
The Danish man accused of randomly targeting people with a bow and arrows as they milled about a small Norwegian town, fatally striking five of them, was seemingly carrying out an act of terror, authorities said on Thursday.
The violence kicked off Wednesday night at a Coop Extra supermarket in Kongsberg, a town of around 28,000 people about 50 miles southwest from the capital of Oslo. Police said the man, who has not been named, fired off several arrows while he walked about the downtown area. He also used other weapons, though what exactly is unclear.
Authorities were alerted to the attack around 6:15 p.m. and were quick to make contact with the suspect, who initially escaped.
“From what we know now, it is reasonably clear that some, probably everyone, was killed after the police were in contact with the perpetrator,” regional police chief Ole Saeverud said Thursday.
The suspect was taken into custody about 30 minutes after officers arrived on the scene. Regional prosecutor Ann Iren Svane Mathiassen told The Associated Press that following his arrest, he “clearly described what he had done. He admitted killing the five people.”
The victims include four women and one man between the ages of 50 and 70. An off-duty officer and two other people were also injured in the evening attack.
The man accused of carrying out the violence had been on the radar of Norway’s domestic security agency, known by its acronym PST, though it did not specify why. Police described him as a Muslim convert who was previously flagged as having been radicalized.
“There earlier had been worries of the man having been radicalized,” Saeverud said, though he did not provide further details.
PST on Thursday pointed to various aspects of the attack while explaining its belief that the suspect’s actions “currently appear to be an act of terrorism.”
“Attacks on random people in public places are a recurring modus operandi among extremist Islamists carrying out terror in the West,” the agency said. It said “the most probable scenario” for such an attack in Norway “is an attack carried out by one or a few perpetrators with simple weapon types, against targets with few or no security measures.”
“The investigation will clarify in more detail what the incidents were motivated by,” PST said in a statement.
According to local outlets, the suspect, a Danish citizen, had previously been convicted of burglary and possession of drugs, and last year a local court granted a restraining order prohibiting him from reaching out to or visiting his parents for a six-month period after he threatened to kill one of them.
On Thursday, an eerie silence hung over the small town in wake of the attack, which was witnessed by dozens.
Erik Benum, who lives on the same road as the supermarket where the shooting started, said he watched in terror as escaped shop workers took cover in nearby doorways.
“I saw them hiding in the corner. Then I went to see what was happening, and I saw the police moving in with a shield and rifles. It was a very strange sight,” Benum said.
“People are sad and shocked.”
PST said Thursday that the terror threat level for Norway remains unchanged and was considered “moderate.” The main church in Kongsberg was open to anyone in need of support.
With News Wire Services
