Five people were killed and two more injured in Kongsberg (southeastern Norway) on Wednesday evening in an attack by a man with an archery bow, before he was arrested by the police, which did not rule out the hypothesis of a terrorist attack.
“Unfortunately I can confirm that five people were killed and two more injured,” said local police officer Evin As. in a press conference.
He added that the two wounded were brought in intensive care, but their lives are not in danger.
Ase explained that one of the injured was an unemployed policeman out shopping in a shop, one of many places in which the attacker targeted his victims.
He added that “the police arrested the man who committed this act and, according to our information, there is only one person involved” in the attack.
The motives of the attacker were not immediately clear, but the police did not rule out the hypothesis of the terrorist attack.
Police gave no details on the suspect, except that he was brought in in a police station in the nearby town of Drammen.
However, channel TV2, whose information is often credible, said the attacker, who carried a knife and other weapons in addition to a crossbow, confirmed that he was a Norwegian converted to Islam and with a history of illness, which the authorities have not confirmed.
“Given the trend of what happened, it is normal for us to consider whether it was a terrorist attack”, said Ase, stressing that “the arrested man has not yet been questioned and it is too early to talk about his reasons”.
Police confirmed they are not looking for other suspects.
The attack took place just before 18:30 local time (16:30 GMT) in downtown Kongsberg.
And the police wrote in a tweet that witnesses saw the man armed with an archery bow, which he intended to use to target some people.
An arrow stuck in a wall
Citizens were asked to stay in their homes. Several neighborhoods were closed, while television footage showed a heavy deployment of armed police and ambulances.
Police and medical ambulance helicopters were sent to the scene, as well as a team of engineers.
The incident was reported to the Intelligence Service.
And the public radio and television “NRK” has posted on its site web a photo sent by an eyewitness showing a black arrow, which landed on one of the walls.
Police said they received a report of the attack at 18:13 (16:13 GMT) and arrested the suspect at 18:47, about half an hour later.
An AFP correspondent said that in Kongsberg, a town of about 25,000 inhabitants 80 kilometers west of the capital Oslo, police isolated the site of the attack.
An eyewitness named Hasina told TV2 he heard a commotion and saw a woman trying to take cover and “a man on the street corner with a sack with arrows on his shoulder and a bow. in but no”.
“After that, I saw people running for their lives, including a woman who was holding in hand a child, “he added.
On Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Erna Solberg commented on the attack, saying: “These events are shaking us.”
This is Solberg’s last day in office, as he will hand over his position to Labor leader Jonas Gahr Store on Thursday, who won the legislative elections that took place on 13 September.
Norway, which is usually a peaceful country, witnessed in passed several attacks by extremists.
On 22 July 2011, Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people by detonating a bomb near the Norwegian government headquarters in Oslo before opening fire on a gathering of young workers on the island of Utoya.
In August 2019, Philip Natshaus shot in a mosque on the outskirts of Oslo before the faithful took control. It did not cause serious injuries in That moment. Before that, he had killed his foster sister, of Asian descent, for racist reasons.
The kingdom also thwarted several plans to launch attacks by extremists.
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