OSLO, Norway — Early Saturday, a gunner fired in the nightlife district of Oslo, and Norwegian security forces called it “Muslim terrorism” 2 People were killed and more than 20 were injured. The annual LGBTQ Pride Festival in the capital.
Investigators said the suspect, originally identified as a 42-year-old Norwegian citizen from Iran, was arrested after firing in three locations downtown Oslo.
Police said two men (one in their 50s and the other in their 60s) were killed in the shooting. Ten people were treated for serious injuries, but were not considered life-threatening. The other 11 were slightly injured.
The Norwegian Police Guard raised the terrorism alert level from "moderate" to "abnormal" after the attack. This caused panicked delights to flee the streets and try to hide from the shooters.
Service Deputy Director Rogerberg called the attack "extreme Muslim terrorism" and suspected "a long history of violence and threats" and mental health problems. I said there is.
He first noticed the suspect in 2015, known by the Norwegian acronym PST, after which he became radical and part of an unspecified Muslim network. He said he became concerned about that.
With police advice, the organizers have canceled the pride parade set on Saturday as the highlight of the week-long festival. Anyway, dozens of people marched through the capital, waving the rainbow flag.
One of the shoots took place outside the London Pub, a popular bar in the city's LGBTQ community, hours before the parade began.
Benjamin Lauhen Rixen (15 years old) and his friend Lisa Ribanke Carbolstad (16 years old) are on their way home for a young man from a nearby pride party about two hours before filming. I walked by the London pub. They said they would have been at the bar if they were drinking age.
"If I was over 18 yesterday, I would have been there and I might have died," Bolstad said. "I'm surprised, not because we live as strange young people for fear of this happening."
Police suspect civilians Said he helped detain him. Police lawyer Christian Hatro said the man had been detained on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, and terrorism, based on the number of people targeted at multiple locations.
"Our overall assessment is that there is reason to believe that he wanted to cause serious fear of the population," Hatro said.
Hatro said it was too early to say whether the shooters specifically targeted members of the LGBTQ community.
"We have to scrutinize it, we still don't know," he said.
Olav Roenneberg, a journalist at the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, said he had witnessed the shooting.
"I saw a man arrive at the scene with a bag. He picked up his weapon and started shooting," Roenneberg told NRK. "At first I thought it was an air gun, then the glass in the bar next door shattered and I realized I had to run for the cover."
Another witness Marcus Nibakken, 46, said he saw many running and screaming and thought it was a fist.
"But I heard it was shooting and some people were shooting with submachine guns," Nybakken told Norwegian broadcaster TV2.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in a Facebook post, "Tonight, the shooting outside the London pub in Oslo was a cruel and shocking attack on innocent people."
He said the shooting caused fear and sadness in the LGBTQ community, although the motive is unknown.
"We are all by your side," writes Gahr Stoere.
Christian Bredeli, who was in a pub in London, told the Norwegian newspaper VG that he hid on the fourth floor in groups of about 10 until he was told he was safe.
"Many people were afraid of their lives," he said. "Several injuries were injured on the way home, so I knew something serious had happened."
Norwegian TV channel TV2 panicked in the background with shots. I showed a video of people running through Oslo Street in a state.
Investigators said the suspect was known not only to the PST but also to the police, but not for serious violent crimes. According to Hatro, his criminal records included drug crimes and weapons crimes to carry knives.
Hatro said police had seized two weapons after the attack. They are hand guns and automatic weapons, both of which are "not modern" without giving details.
He said the suspect had not made any statement to the police and was in contact with a defense lawyer.
Police advised the organizers of the Pride Festival to cancel the parade scheduled for Saturday.
"Therefore, Oslo Pride encourages everyone planning to attend or watch the parade not to show up. All events related to Oslo Pride will be cancelled." Said the organizer on the official Facebook page of the event.
Inge Alexander Jestvan, leader of FRI, a Norwegian organization for sexuality and sexual diversity, said the shooting shook the LGBTQ community in Scandinavian countries.
"We will come back later and be proud and visible, but it's not the time," he told TV2.
King Harald V expressed his condolences to the victim's relatives and said the royal family was "feared" by the attack.
"We must work together to uphold the values of freedom, diversity and mutual respect. We continue to stand to make everyone feel safe. Must be, "said the prince.
Although Norway's crime rate is relatively low, it has experienced a series of so-called lonely wolf attacks in recent decades, including one of the worst mass fires in Europe. In 2011, right-wing militants fired a bomb in Oslo, killing eight people and then killing 69 people on Utoya Island.
In 2019, another right-wing extremist killed her sister-in-law and fired at a mosque, but was overwhelmed before the injured.
Last year, a Norwegian man armed with a knife, bow and arrow killed five people in a town in southern Norway. An attacker diagnosed with schizophrenia was sentenced to compulsory mental care on Friday.
Contact usLetters@time.com
