Copenhagen (Denmark), October 14
A man armed with a bow fired arrows at shopkeepers in a small Norwegian town on Wednesday, killing five people before being arrested, officials said.
The police chief of the Kongsberg community, near Oslo’s capital, said there was a “confrontation” between the officers and the attacker, but did not elaborate. Police said two other people were injured and hospitalized in intensive care, including an officer who was off duty and inside the shop where the attack took place.
“The person who committed this act has been arrested by the police, and there is no active search for more people. Based on the information we have, one person is behind this.
Acting Prime Minister Erna Solberg described the attack as “horrific” and said it was too early to speculate on a motive. The designated prime minister, Jonas Gahr Storey, who is expected to take office on Thursday, called the attack “a brutal and brutal act” in comments to Norwegian news agency NTB.
Police were alerted about the attack at around 6:15 pm and the suspect was arrested about 30 minutes later. The community of some 26,000 inhabitants lies approximately 66 kilometers (41 mi) south-west of Oslo.
According to police, the suspect went around the city of Kongsberg shooting arrows. Aas declined to comment on reports that the man used a crossbow, saying there were “multiple crime scenes”.
The man has not been questioned yet, Aas said.
The attack was reported to Norway’s domestic security agency PST.
City officials invited those affected by the attack and their relatives to gather for support at a local hotel.
Mass murders are rare in Norway. The country’s worst hit occurred on July 22, 2011, when right-wing extremist Anders Breivik detonated a bomb in the capital of Oslo, killing eight people. He then headed to small Utoya Island, where he chased mostly teenage members of the youth wing of the Labor Party and killed another 69 victims.
Breivik was sentenced to 21 years in prison, which is the maximum under Norwegian law, but his term could be extended as long as he was considered a threat to society. AP