Norwegian police are investigating a possible terrorist assault after a person killed 5 folks utilizing a bow and arrow.
Police in Kongsberg — a city 70km west of the capital Oslo — stated there have been “grounds to guage whether or not it is a terror assault” after confirming the variety of fatalities in an assault by what authorities described as a lone man who has been arrested.
They stated two folks had been significantly damage and had been in hospital although not with life-threatening accidents; considered one of these is an off-duty policeman.
Norwegian police issued a short lived order for officers to hold weapons after the assault on Wednesday night, highlighting the seriousness of the state of affairs.
Police declined to provide additional particulars or speculate on motive however confirmed there had been a confrontation between the attacker and officers after the suspect initially fled, with warning photographs fired. “We’re protecting an open thoughts, additionally that it might be a terror assault,” native police chief Oyvind Aas informed an emergency press convention.
Over a interval of about half an hour the killer moved round a number of areas within the city of 28,000 folks, together with a Co-op grocery store the place the off-duty policeman was hit.
Norway has suffered a number of acts of terrorism by rightwing extremists in recent times together with an assault on the then ruling Labour social gathering’s youth camp in addition to authorities buildings in Oslo in 2011 that killed 77.
Prime minister Erna Solberg, who is because of stand down on Thursday earlier than a change of government in Oslo, stated on Wednesday evening: “The information is grotesque. The occasions shake us. I perceive that many are afraid. That’s the reason it’s essential to emphasize that police are in management.”
Jonas Gahr Retailer, the Labour chief who gained final month’s elections, stated: “What we’ve got heard from Kongsberg tonight testifies {that a} merciless and brutal act has been dedicated.”
The assault in Kongsberg, a college city and residential to Norway’s largest defence firm, got here on the day a brand new centre-left authorities led by Labour introduced its coverage programme earlier than being sworn in by the king on Thursday.
Kari Anne Sand, Kongsberg’s mayor, stated: “This can be a stunning occasion that we scarcely believed may happen in Norway.”
