Five people confirmed dead and more injured by killer armed with a bow and arrows in Norway

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At least five people have been killed and two others injured by a man using a bow and arrows to carry out attacks in the Norwegian town of Kongsberg.

Police arrested the suspect after he marauded through the town for 34 minutes firing randomly at victims and are probing a possible terror motive. The man was identified by TV2 as an ethnic Norwegian who converted to Islam and is known to mental health workers.

‘We can unfortunately confirm that there are several injured and also unfortunately several killed in this episode,’ police official Øyvind 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.’ 

Aas added it was only ‘natural’ to consider the possibility the attack was an act of terrorism and confirmed five people had died and two more were injured in the attack. 

The suspect opened fire inside a Coop Extra supermarket in the town’s west around 6:13pm local time and was arrested following a ‘confrontation’ with officers in which they fired warning shots. He was taken to a police station in the nearby town of Drammen for questioning. 

Two injured victims, including an off duty policeman who was inside the grocery store, were taken to the intensive care ward of a nearby hospital in a serious but non-life threatening condition. 

Police have opened an investigation and are understood to have visited an address in Kongsberg in connection with the case late on Wednesday. 

The attacks took place over ‘a large area’ of Kongsberg as the suspect moved through the town, police said. 

Local media reported the suspect opened fire from inside a Coop Extra supermarket in the town’s west.  A spokesperson for the chain later confirmed a ‘serious incident’ at their Kongsberg store and said no staff were physically injured.   

Police were alerted to the shooter at 6:13pm and arrested the suspect at 6:47pm local time. Regional paper Laagendalsposten reported armed police chased the suspect, firing warning shots before making the arrest. 

Witnesses said they saw a woman with an arrow lodged in her body lying in a pool of blood crying for help at an intersection. 

Another 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.

One witness tweeted: ‘There is a guy with bow and arrow shooting at people just outside my apartment wtf. Police and multiple helicopters are here.’

Another, 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 Oeyvind 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. 

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. 

‘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.  

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.  The number of victims is not yet known.  

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. 

Acting Prime Minister Erna Solberg called the attack ‘shocking’ and ‘gruesome’ and said it was too early to determine the shooter’s motive. 

‘I understand that many people are afraid, but it’s important to emphasise that the police are now in control,’ she told a news conference late on Wednesday.  

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.’ 

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.