A terrorist attack left two dead and several injured in Oslo, Norway, overnight from Friday to Saturday. The author used a firearm to attack people near a bar frequented by homosexuals. A suspect has been arrested and the Norwegian Internal Intelligence Service (PST) has announced that it is treating the facts as “an act of Islamist terrorism”.
He was pointing at someone
Our colleagues from the Flemish channel VTM interviewed Christophe, a Belgian who was a few meters from the shooting. He had just come out of a bar and was waiting for a taxi when panic spread. “20 yards away was the London Pub. There we first heard firecrackers, then suddenly we saw panic, people falling on top of each other. We didn’t know if someone had thrown a firecracker at the bar or something, because there was panic. But then someone started shouting, ‘They’re shooting, they’re shooting!’“, confides Christophe.
Immediately, the Belgian and his friends understand that they must flee at all costs. “We started walking the other way. One of the people we were with walked into one of the nearby bars. We figured that’s not the smartest thing to do, so we called her to come back outside.“, explains the witness.
When this friend comes out of the bar, Christophe thinks he has seen the shooter. “I saw across the street, regarding 30 to 40 meters from me, someone walking quietly back and forth. He was pointing at someone. Then we heard once more: bang, bang, bang. It was probably him. I didn’t look any further, we started running saying to each other: I hope I don’t get hit“, concludes the Belgian.
The suspect was known to the police
Quickly arrested, the alleged perpetrator of the attack which killed two people and injured 21, including ten seriously, “has a long history of violence and threats“, said Roger Berg, the head of the Norwegian domestic intelligence services (PST), in charge of counter-terrorism.
The PST had him on their radar”since 2015 in connection with concerns regarding his radicalization“and its membership”to an extremist Islamist network“, but interviews with him last month had led the services to conclude that he had no”violent intentions“, he said at a press conference. Oslo police had previously presented the suspect as a 42-year-old Norwegian of Iranian origin. The PST is also aware “mental health issues“, said Mr. Berg.
His lawyer, John Christian Elden, told Norwegian news agency NTB he expected his client to undergo “judicial observation” to determine his mental state as is usually the case in serious cases.