Oslo: In a suspected terror attack, a gunman opened fire in Oslo’s night-life district on early Saturday, killing two people and leaving more than 20 wounded. The Norwegian security service called it an “Islamist terror act” during the capital’s annual Pride festival. The suspect, identified as a 42-year-old Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, was arrested after opening fire at three locations in downtown Oslo, said the investigators.
The PST security service raised its terror alert level from “moderate” to “extraordinary”, the highest level after the attack, which sent panicked revelers fleeing into the streets or trying to hide from the gunman. Roger Berg, the PST acting chief, called the attack an “extreme Islamist terror act” and said the suspect had a “long history of violence and threats” as well as mental health issues.
Roger Berg said that PST first became aware of the suspect in 2015 and later became concerned that he had become radicalized and was part of an unspecified Islamist network.
Upon the advice of police, organizers canceled a Pride parade that was set for Saturday as the highlight of a weeklong festival. Scores of people marched through the capital anyway, waving rainbow flags.
One of the shootings happened outside the London Pub, a bar popular with the city’s LGBTQ community, just hours before the parade was set to begin. Based on the number of people targeted at multiple locations, the suspect was being held on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, and terrorism, said Police attorney Christian Hatlo. “Our overall assessment is that there are grounds to believe that he wanted to cause grave fear in the population,” Hatlo said.
Police said two of the shooting victims died and 10 people were being treated for serious injuries, but none of them was believed to be in life-threatening condition. Eleven other people had minor injuries.
Olav Roenneberg, a journalist from Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, said he witnessed the shooting. “I saw a man arrive at the site with a bag. He picked up a weapon and started shooting,” Roenneberg told NRK. “First I thought it was an air gun. Then the glass of the bar next door was shattered and I understood I had to run for cover.”
Marcus Nybakken, 46, another witness said he saw a lot of people running and screaming and thought it was a fist fight. “But then I heard that it was a shooting and that there was someone shooting with a submachine gun,” Nybakken told Norwegian broadcaster TV2.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in a Facebook post that “the shooting outside London Pub in Oslo tonight was a cruel and deeply shocking attack on innocent people.” He said that while the motive was unclear, the shooting had caused fear and grief in the LGBTQ community.
“We all stand by you,” Gahr Stoere wrote.
Christian Bredeli, who was at the bar, told 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 were fearing for their lives,” he said. “On our way out we saw several injured people, so we understood that something serious had happened.”
TV2 showed footage of people running down Oslo streets in panic as shots rang out in the background.
(With agency inputs)
