Norway bow-arrow attack an ‘act of terror’
Print Edition
THE killing of five people in Norway in a bow-and-arrow attack appears to be an “act of terror,” the Norwegian security service said yesterday, with the suspect, a Danish Muslim convert, already on their radar over fears he had been radicalized.
Four women and a man, all aged between 50 and 70, were killed and three others, including an off-duty police officer, were injured on Wednesday in the southeastern town of Kongsberg in Norway’s deadliest attack in a decade.
“The events in Kongsberg currently appear to be an act of terror, but the investigation ... will determine in closer detail what the acts were motivated by,” Norway’s intelligence service PST said in a statement.
“We’re talking about a convert to Islam,” police official Ole Bredrup Saeverud told reporters yesterday, adding: “There were fears linked to radicalization previously.”
According to police, the suspect in Wednesday’s attack walked around downtown Kongsberg shooting arrows. Police were alerted to the attack around 6:15pm and arrested the suspect about 30 minutes later.
Saeverud said that the 37-year-old suspect, who has not been identified by police, had confessed to the facts of the matter during questioning.
The man was in custody and was believed to have acted alone, police said.
PST also confirmed that the suspect was known to the agency but added it couldn’t give “further details about him.”
It also said it didn’t believe the threat level in Norway had changed, describing it as “moderate.”
Far-right extremist
Murder in Norway is rare.
It was the deadliest attack since far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people in 2011.
Since then, Norway has seen one other far-right attack, carried out by a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi who opened fire into a mosque.
Yesterday it was largely quiet in Kongsberg, a picturesque town of 25,000 people with wooden facades and the foliage changing color for the autumn.
Streets were almost empty with only a light police presence.
A few police officers stood outside a store where part of the attack took place. Two candles flickered outside the town’s church.
The suspect was due to appear before a judge today for a custody hearing. He was undergoing a psychiatric examination yesterday, the prosecutor said.
Images in the media showed a black arrow sticking out of a wall and what looked like competition-grade arrows lying on the ground.
Police said yesterday the suspect had also used other weapons, but provided no details.
“These events shake us,” said Prime Minister Erna Solberg, who stepped down yesterday, replaced by Jonas Gahr Store, whose Labor Party won recent parliamentary elections. Store lamented the “horrible acts,” while Norway’s King Harald said he was “appalled by the tragic events.”
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