An Islamic extremist has been arrested after he killed five people and wounded two, including one officer, with a bow and arrow in the town of Kongsberg on Wednesday, police say.
The suspect, Espen Andersen Braathen, is a 37-year-old Danish man who was radicalized by Islam in what police are calling a “suspected terror attack.” A police attorney told Reuters that Braathen had “acknowledged” his crime and that his lawyer says that Braathen is cooperating with police.
“The man used a bow and arrow… for some of the attacks,” police chief Oeyvind Aas told reporters.
“The man has been apprehended… from the information we now have, this person carried out these actions alone,” said Aas.
Police say that the attacks took place over a wide area in a municipality of roughly 28,000 people on Wednesday.
Investigators also say that they had previously been alerted to the suspect and his radicalization. However, the suspect also has a history of being “in and out” of health institutions and that proving that this was an act of terrorism and not a psychiatric episode “will be a vital, important part of the investigation,” according to head of Norway’s PST security police Hans Sverre Sjoevold.
“Police have previously been in contact with the man in relation to trouble connected to radicalization. We haven’t registered anything in regards to him in 2021, but previously,” Regional police chief Ole Bredrup Saeverud said in a news conference.
On Thursday, flags in Kongsberg were raised to half-mast in honour of the victims of this horrendous attack.
“The reports coming from Kongsberg tonight are horrifying,” said Prime Minister Erna Solberg in a news conference.
“I understand that many people are afraid, but it’s important to emphasize that the police are now in control.”
Police have now ordered all officers across Norway to carry firearms as officers remain on high alert for any potential copycat attack.
