The Norwegian security service has raised its terror alert to the highest level after a gunman opened fire in Oslo’s nightlife district early on Saturday, killing two people and leaving 10 seriously injured during the annual festival. of the Pride of the Norwegian capital.
Investigators said the suspect, identified as a 42-year-old Norwegian citizen from Iran, was arrested after opening fire at three locations in central Oslo.
Although the reason was unclear, Oslo Pride organizers canceled a parade that was scheduled to take place this Saturday as the highlight of the week-long LGBTIQ+ Pride festival. One of the shootings occurred outside the ‘London Pub’, a very popular bar among the city’s LGBTIQ+ community, hours before the parade began.
The Norwegian security service has raised its terror alert to the highest level after a mass shooting left two dead and a dozen injured during Pride week in Oslo.
Acting security forces chief Roger Berg called the shooting an “extreme Islamist terrorist act.” He said the gunman, who was arrested shortly after the shooting, had a “long history of violence and threats.”
“Reasons to believe that he wanted to cause serious fear to the population”
Police lawyer Christian Hatlo said the suspect was being held on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and terrorism, based on the number of people he addressed at multiple locations.
“Our general assessment is that there are reasons to believe that he wanted to cause serious fear in the population,” said Hatlo, who also said that the suspect’s mental health was being investigated.
“We have to review his medical history, if he has any. It’s not something we know about right now,” he said.
The shots were fired at around 1am local time, causing panicked partygoers to flee into the streets or try to hide from the attacker.
Witness testimony
Olav Roenneberg, a journalist for the Norwegian public broadcaster ‘NRK’, said he witnessed the shooting.
“I saw a man arrive at the scene with a bag. He took a gun and started shooting.” “First I thought it was a BB gun. Then the glass of the bar next door shattered and I knew I had to run for cover,” he said.
Another witness, Marcus Nybakken, 46, said he was alerted to the incident by the commotion created in the area.
“When I walked into ‘Cesar’s’ bar there were a lot of people starting to run and there was a lot of yelling. I thought it was a fight so I backed away. But then I heard it was a shooting and someone was shooting with a machine gun,” he said. Nybakken to the Norwegian channel ‘TV2’.
Police Inspector Tore Soldal said two of the shooting victims were killed and 10 people were being treated for serious injuries, but none of them are believed to be life-threatening.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in a Facebook post that “tonight’s shooting at Oslo’s ‘London Pub’ was a cruel and deeply shocking attack on innocent people.”
He added that although the motive was unclear, the shooting had caused fear and pain in the LGBTIQ+ community.
“We are all by your side,” wrote Gahr Stoere.
The King of Norway also expressed his condolences
Norwegian King Harald V also offered his condolences, saying he and the Norwegian royal family were “appalled by the shooting tragedy of the night”.
“We sympathize with all the families and those affected and send warm thoughts to all who are now scared, unsettled and grieving,” the monarch said in a statement. “We must stand together to defend our values: freedom, diversity and respect for others. We must continue to defend that all people feel safe.”
Christian Bredeli, who was at the bar, told the Norwegian newspaper ‘VG’ that he hid on the fourth floor with a group of about 10 people until he was told it was safe to come out.
“Many feared for their lives,” he said. “When we left we saw several people injured, so we understood that something serious had happened.”
The Norwegian channel ‘TV2’ showed images of people running through the streets of Oslo in panic while shots rang out in the background.
Investigators said the suspect was known to the Norwegian Police, but not for any major violent crime. His criminal record included a narcotics offense and a weapons offense for carrying a knife, Hatlo said, adding that police seized two weapons after the attack: a pistol and an automatic weapon, which he described as “not modern”, without give details.
He said the suspect had not made any statements to police and was in contact with a defense attorney. The officer said he was too early to say whether the shooter was specifically targeting members of the LGBTIQ+ community.
“We have to look at it more closely, we don’t know yet,” he said.
The Pride in Olso, canceled
Still, police advised Pride festival organizers to cancel Saturday’s parade.
“Oslo Pride therefore urges all those who were scheduled to participate in or watch the parade not to show up. All Oslo Pride related events are cancelled,” organizers said on the event’s official website. on Facebook.
Inge Alexander Gjestvang, leader of ‘FRI’, the Norwegian organization for sexual and gender diversity, said the shooting has shaken the gay community in the Nordic country.
“It’s hard to move queer experience this,” he said, quoted by ‘TV2’. “We encourage everyone to stay together, to take care of each other. We will come back proud, visible, but now is not the time for that.”
Norway has a relatively low crime rate, but has suffered from violent attacks by right-wing extremists, including one of the worst mass shootings in Europe in 2011, when a gunman killed 69 people on the island of Utoya after setting off a bomb. in Oslo, which left eight dead.
In 2019, another far-right militant killed his stepsister and then opened fire at a mosque, but was overpowered before anyone there was hurt.
*With AP and Reuters; adapted from its English version
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