Authorities said that a man with a bow and arrows fired at five shoppers in a small Norwegian village Wednesday. He was later arrested.
The Kongsberg police chief, who is located near Oslo’s capital, stated that there had been a “confrontation” between officers, but did not give any details. Police said that two other victims were also injured and taken to intensive care. One of the attackers was an officer off duty who was inside the shop where it happened.
The police have arrested the man responsible for the crime and are not actively searching for others. According to the information available, we believe there is only one person responsible,” said Police Chief Oeyving Aas.
The attack was described by Erna Solberg, acting prime minister, as “gruesome”, and it is too early to speculate about a motive. Jonas Gahr Stoere (the prime minister-designate), who is due to take office on Thursday, described the attack as “a cruel, brutal act” in comments made to NTB, Norway’s news agency.
The attack was discovered by police at 6:15 p.m. Police arrested the suspect 30 minutes later. About 66 km (41 miles) from Oslo is the community of approximately 26,000 people.
Police say the suspect was seen walking around Kongsberg, shooting arrows. Aas refused to comment on reports that the suspect used a crossbow and said only that there were “several crimes scenes.”
Aas stated that the man has not yet been interrogated.
Norway’s national security agency PST was notified of the attack.
Officials invited the victims and their families to come together at a local hotel for support.
Norway is not known for mass killings. On July 22, 2011, right-wing extremist Anders Breivik detonated a bomb in Oslo’s capital, killing eight people. He then headed to Utoya island, where he killed another 69 people and stalked mostly teenage members of the Labor Party’s youth branch.
Breivik was sentenced 21 years imprisonment, which is the maximum Norwegian law allows. However, he can be extended if deemed a danger to society.
