Muslim convert had been flagged as radicalised before bow rampage in Norway
Pictured: Muslim convert accused of slaying five people in Norwegian bow-and-arrow ‘terror attack’: ‘Killer’ had been flagged for radicalisation and had restraining order after threatening his father with a gun
Espen Andersen Bråthen identified by Norwegian media as the man who killed five in bow and arrow attackPolice say 37-year-old was a Muslim convert flagged for radicalisation, and attack ‘appears to be terrorism’ It has emerged that he threatened to kill his father last year with a gun, and had restraining order against himFour women and one man aged between 50 and 70 were killed in the attack, while two more were injured
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This is the face of the suspected terror attacker accused of killing five people in a bow and arrow rampage in Norway, as it’s revealed he once threatened to kill his father with a gun and had a restraining order against him.
Espen Andersen Bråthen has been identified by Norwegian media as the 37-year-old Danish man that police have arrested over the attack, after officers said the suspect is a Muslim convert flagged for radicalisation and the attack ‘appears to be a terrorist act’.
Bråthen was identified by several neighbours in the town of Kongsberg before a now-deleted YouTube video was uncovered in which he read out a kind of manifesto in English – calling himself as ‘a messenger’ who ‘comes with a warning.’ ‘Bear witness that I am a Muslim,’ he adds.
Meanwhile court documents revealed that Bråthen has a lengthy criminal history, including an incident in May last year in which he threatened to kill his father while carrying a handgun.
Bråthen had gone to his father’s house with the Colt revolver and made threats, before fleeing while leaving the gun behind. Two relatives then took out a restraining order against him, which he breached last August.
Court documents also revealed that he has prior convictions for aggravated theft and drugs going back at least as far as 2011, though likely earlier. He appears to have been out of work since the early 2000s, VG reported.
Police today sealed off the suspect’s house, which is located close to the supermarket where the attack began, while forensic officers were pictured searching another nearby building.
Ole Bredrup Sæverud, chief of police for south-east Norway, said officers were first called about the attack at 6.12pm Wednesday after locals near a Coop Extra market were shot at with a bow and arrow.
In other developments:
Witnesses described hearing ‘women’s screams’ at the scene of the attack, adding: ‘It was a death cry’ The man is currently being questioned by police and is cooperating, though has not been formally chargedPolice say he has admitted being behind the attack, but has not yet entered a formal plea to criminal charges Suspect is a Danish citizen via mother, has a Norwegian father. Was born in Norway and lived there ‘all his life’Records suggest the man has been out of work since the early 2000s. It is not clear what he did before thenForensic officers were working at an address close to the crime scene and have questioned local residents
Espen Andersen Bråthen, 37, has been identified as the man who killed five people during a bow and arrow rampage in the Norwegian town of Kongsberg last night
Five people were killed and two more injured during a half-hour bow and arrow rampage through the streets of Kongsberg, a town in southern Norway, on Wednesday night
Police say they have arrested a 37-year-old Danish man, who has admitted being the attacker. They say he is a convert to Islam and had been flagged for radicalism (pictured, arrows in a wall near the scene)
Police say the suspect was known to officers for ‘several different issues’ and had also ‘been in contact with… the health service several times’ (pictured, arrows at the scene of the attack)
The attack began at a Coop Extra supermarket on the west side of Kongsberg at 6.13pm as the man opened fire with a bow and arrow, then walked through the streets apparently firing at random. It ended half an hour later and 400 yards away as police confronted the man after he crossed the Numedalslågen river
Forensic officers were seen working at a house close to where the attack began, on the west side of Kongsberg, on Thursday morning as investigations into the man’s motive continue
Police confirmed that officers had fired shots during the arrest, though it was not immediately clear whether they shot at the suspect or fired warning shots. It is not clear whether the man was injured during his arrest
Kongsberg is a small town in southern Norway that straddles the Numedalslågen river with a population of about 26,000. It is known as the home of the Royal Norwegian Mint, houses the headquarters of a major arms manufacturer, and serves as a satellite campus for the University of South-Eastern Norway
Four armed squads were sent to the area and officers first made contact with the man at 6.18pm. He briefly disappeared, then reemerged and fired arrows at them. While taking cover from the arrows, the man escaped.
Officers fanned out to search for him as 18 other squads arrived on the scene, but did not catch up to him until 6.47pm. It is thought that he killed all his victims – four women and one man, aged between 50 and 70 – during this time window.
Police have not identified any of the victims, though they say relatives have been informed. They have also not said how the victims died, though have confirmed that more than one weapon was used in the attack.
It is not clear how many weapons were used in total, or what kind of weapons they were. Two people were also injured in the attack, though it is not clear exactly how or when they were hurt.
Their injuries are not life threatening, police have said.
Meanwhile, a former neighbour told Norwegian outlet VG that the man had a ‘bad vibe’ and used to practise fencing in his garden using ‘clubs, sticks and batons’.
‘There was no elegance in the fencing, he fenced with brutality. He was always alone.
‘From the kitchen window I could look into his apartment. It was very messy… I got a bad feeling,’ the neighbour said.
The neighbour added that, in June last year, police came to the man’s house wearing shields and helmets and ordered him to come out. Officers then handcuffed him and took him away.
Court records show that he had breached a restraining order, though to be the one taken out by his family just two weeks earlier.
Then, in August, the neighbour saw the man talking to police outside his house for ‘a long time’ before they left. It is unclear what that incident related to.
The attack began in a Coop Extra supermarket on the west side of Kongsberg at 6.12pm Wednesday, with armed police immediately dispatched to the scene.
Three more police patrols were then dispatched, with another 18 put on patrol. Additional officers were called for, but had not arrived by the time the man was arrested.
A total of 29 ambulances and three air ambulances were also sent to the city. In addition, a rescue helicopter was sent from the municipality of Rygge-Moss, around 45 mile away.
Police first spotted the man at 6.18pm. He vanished for a moment, but then reappeared and fired arrows at officers. While sheltering from the arrows, the man managed to escape again.
Squads of police spread out and combed the nearby streets, but did not make contact with the man again until 6.47pm when they fired warning shots and he surrendered.
Thomas Nilsen, who lives close to the scene of the attack, described hearing ‘a scream I have never heard before’ as heavily armed police rushed to the area.
‘It was a scream that burned into the soul. I will never forget that. I perceived it as a death cry’, he told national broadcaster NRK.
Norway’s outgoing Conservative Prime Minister Erna Solberg called the attack ‘shocking’ and ‘gruesome’ in a press conference late on Wednesday. ‘I understand that many people are afraid, but it’s important to emphasise that the police are now in control,’ she said.
Labour party leader Jonas Gahr Store, who is due to become prime minister today after an election last month, described the killings as ‘cruel and brutal’ and said his thoughts were with ‘those affected, their families, and with the police, the health workers who are now working full time to assist those who need help.’
Following the attacks, the Norwegian police command said it had immediately ordered officers nationwide to carry firearms. Norwegian police are normally unarmed but officers have access to guns and rifles when needed.
Official’s said Wednesday’s rampage was the deadliest attack in Norway in a decade, since far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people in twin attacks on July 22, 2011.
Breivik first set off a bomb in the capital Oslo next to the building that housed the office of the prime minister, then went on a shooting spree at a summer camp for left-wing youths on the island of Utoya.
A witness told TV2 she had heard a commotion and seen people running for cover before catching side of a ‘man standing on the corner with arrows in a quiver on his shoulder and a bow in his hand,’ AFP reported.
‘Afterwards, I saw people running for their lives. One of them was a woman holding a child by the hand,’ she added.
Another witness tweeted: ‘There is a guy with bow and arrow shooting at people just outside my apartment wtf. Police and multiple helicopters are here.’
While Sarkis Younan, a student who lives next to the Coop Extra store, told local media: ‘I was sitting and watching Squid Game when I suddenly saw and heard sirens. I thought it was in the TV series. Suddenly I heard the police screaming like hell: ‘Put down your weapon”.’
Officers have cordoned large areas of the town, a municipality of around 28,000 people in southeastern Norway, 82km (51 miles) from Oslo, and urged the public to stay home. Police said there were several crime scenes.
Some of the arrows pictured strewn around the site of the attack appeared to be crossbow bolts while others had flights indicating they could be used with a bow.
‘The man used a bow and arrow… for some of the attacks,’ police chief Øyvind Aas told reporters adding that police were investigating whether other weapons had also been used.
Television footage showed ambulances, armed police, a helicopter, and bomb disposal team in the area.
Shortly after the man was arrested, police were seen searching a nearby house. Investigators have not yet disclosed what was found at the property, or what the motive for the attack may have been
A helicopter was seen landing near the scene of the attack in which at least five people were killed and several more injured in Kongsberg, Norway, on Wednesday evening
Ole Bredrup Sæverud, chief of police, speaks to journalists on Thursday – revealing that the bow and arrow attacker killed five people after being confronted by police and escaping
Officials are thought to be probing a possible terror motive after the suspect fired at random victims across a ‘wide area’ of Kongsberg
‘We can unfortunately confirm that there are several injured and also unfortunately several killed in this episode,’ police official Oyvind Aas (pictured) told a news conference
The TV2 station reported that the man also had a knife or other weapons. And the website of public broadcaster NRK published an image sent by a witness of a black arrow sticking out of a wall.
‘We can unfortunately confirm that there are several injured and also unfortunately several killed in this episode,’ Aas told a news conference. ‘The man who committed this act has been arrested by the police and, according to our information, there is only one person involved.’
‘There is no active search for other people,’ Aas said. Police said it was ‘natural’ to probe terrorism as a possible motive.
Police are understood to be interviewing several witnesses and visited an address in Kongsberg late on Wednesday.
Unni Grøndal, Oslo police spokesperson: ‘We are helping with national assistance resources such as police helicopters, bomb squads, and crews from the Emergency Response Troop.’
At least eight ambulances and three air ambulances were seen at the scene with the wounded taken to hospital.
It was not immediately clear where the wounded were taken but Oslo University Hospital was put on standby to receive victims.
Mayor Kari Anne Sand told VG newspaper: ‘It is a tragedy for all those affected. I have no words. This is a shocking event that we did not think could happen in Norway.’
Following the attacks, the police directorate said it had immediately ordered officers nationwide to carry firearms. Norwegian police are normally unarmed but officers have access to guns and rifles when needed.
‘This is an extra precaution. The police have no indication so far that there is a change in the national threat level,’ the directorate said in a statement.
Norway’s minister of justice and public security, Monica Maeland, has received updates on the attacks and was closely monitoring the situation, the ministry said.
City officials invited people who were affected by the attack and their relatives to gather for support at a local hotel.
New Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, who is set to take up the position today, said: ‘What we have heard from Kongsberg tonight testifies that a cruel and brutal act has been committed. We still know little about what happened and what is behind it, but we know that several innocent people were killed and that several were injured.
‘My thoughts and deepest sympathy are with those affected, their families, and with the police, the health workers who are now working full time to assist those who need help.’
Former Norwegian MP Laila Gustavsen, who lives in Kongsberg, said: ‘That something like this can happen in a quiet small town like ours is unreal.’
Acting Prime Minister Erna Solberg called the attack ‘shocking’ and ‘gruesome’ and said it was too early to determine the shooter’s motive
At least eight ambulances and three air ambulances were seen at the scene with the wounded taken to hospital. However the number of wounded, or their condition, were not yet known
Officers have cordoned large areas of Kongsberg, a municipality of around 28,000 people in southeastern Norway, where at least five people were killed and more injured in an attack on Wednesday
Police are investigating after a bow and arrows attack on members of the public in Kongsberg, Norway, left five dead and two more injured
Police officers have secured several crime scenes in the centre of Kongsberg following the shooting around 6:13pm on Wednesday
Head of Norway’s Socialist Left Party Audun Bjorlo Lysbakken said: ‘I feel profound sadness that such cruel acts of violence could hit the inhabitants of a peaceful Norwegian town.’
While Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said: ‘Terrible attack in Norway tonight. My thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones.’
Norway has traditionally been a peaceful nation but has suffered far-right attacks.
Right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik carried out twin attacks that killed 77 people on July 22, 2011.
Breivik first set off a bomb in the capital Oslo next to the building that housed the office of the prime minister, then went on a shooting spree at a summer camp for left-wing youths on the island of Utoya.
Breivik was sentenced to 21 years in prison, the maximum under Norwegian law, but his term can be extended as long as he’s considered a danger to society.
In August 2019, self-proclaimed neo-Nazi Philip Manshaus opened fire into a mosque on the outskirts of Oslo before being overpowered by worshippers, with no one being seriously injured.
However, he had earlier shot dead his step-sister, who had been adopted from China, in what prosecutors termed a ‘racist act’.
Several planned jihadist attacks have also been foiled by security services.
