A Danish man suspected of killing five people with a bow and arrows in Norway had converted to Islam and was previously known to police over fears that he had been radicalised, officials said on October 14.
Five people were killed – four women and one man – and two others were injured on October 13 in the southeastern town of Kongsberg in Norway’s deadliest attack in a decade.
Norwegian police official Ole Bredrup Saeverud told reporters on October 14 that the 37-year-old suspect had confessed during questioning. Those who were killed during the attack were all aged 50-70.
“We are investigating among other things to determine whether this was a terrorist attack,” Saeverud added.
Reports that linked the suspect to radicalisation pre-dated this year, and police had followed up at the time, Saeverud said. “We haven’t had any reports about him in 2021, but earlier … We’re relatively sure that he acted alone.”
This was the deadliest attack in the Scandinavian country since far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people in 2011. Since then, Norway has seen one other far-right attack, carried out by a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi who opened fire into a mosque.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen reacted with “great sadness” to the “terrible attack”.
The suspect was due to go before a judge on October 15 for a custody hearing and was undergoing a psychiatric examination on October 4, the prosecutor said.
