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Oslo shooting: Norway attack being treated as Islamist terrorism, police say | |
(about 3 hours later) | |
Tributes are being laid at the crime scene in the aftermath of overnight shootings in the centre of Oslo, Norway | Tributes are being laid at the crime scene in the aftermath of overnight shootings in the centre of Oslo, Norway |
A 42-year-old man has been arrested and charged with murder, attempted murder and terrorist acts after a shooting in the centre of Norway's capital, Oslo. | A 42-year-old man has been arrested and charged with murder, attempted murder and terrorist acts after a shooting in the centre of Norway's capital, Oslo. |
Two people were killed and 21 injured in the attack on a busy nightlife district early on Saturday. | |
Police said they consider the attack an act of extreme Islamist terrorism. | |
The victims were shot in and outside the London Pub, a popular LGBTQ+ venue, and near the Herr Nilsen jazz club and another pub. | |
Oslo's annual gay Pride parade was due to be held on Saturday, and was formally cancelled on police advice. | |
But despite that, hundreds of people marched near the scene later in the day, shouting: "We're here, we're queer, we won't disappear!" | |
"I think it's fantastic that this march is taking place, otherwise he would have won," one woman in her 50s told AFP news agency. | |
Rainbow flags and flowers were laid near the scene of the attack, which was sealed off by police tape, and bystanders comforted each other with hugs. | |
The suspect had been known to the security services since 2015, as a "suspected radicalised Islamist", and had a history of mental illness, Norway's PST intelligence service said. | |
"There is reason to think that this may be a hate crime," police said earlier. "We are investigating whether... Pride was a target in itself or whether there are other motives." | |
Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere called it a "terrible and deeply shocking attack on innocent people". | |
"To all the homosexuals who now are afraid and are in mourning, I say we are all with you," he said on Facebook. | |
Witnesses who were at the London Pub have told how they fled to the basement, where 80 to 100 terrified partygoers were trying to hide. | |
Bili Blum-Jansen told TV2: "Many called their partners and family, it felt almost as if they were saying goodbye. Others helped calm down those who were extremely terrified. | |
"I had a bit of panic and thought that if the shooter or shooters were to arrive, we'd all be dead. There was no way out." | |
Another survivor told how he was hit by flying glass. | |
"I was in the outer bar in London when it happened. I just noticed that a shot was fired, and I was hit by a shard of glass. There were more and more and more shots, so I escaped into the inner bar and tried to get as many as possible with me," he told Norway's public broadcaster NRK. | |
"At first people did not understand what was happening, but then there was panic." | "At first people did not understand what was happening, but then there was panic." |
"Today is a day that reminds us that Pride is a day we have to fight for... the goal has not yet been reached," Trond Petter Aunas said. | |
Two people were killed after shots were fired at a popular gay bar and in nearby streets | |
"I saw a man arrive with a bag, he picked up a gun and started to shoot," said journalist Olav Roenneberg of public broadcaster NRK, who was in the area at the time. | |
Two weapons were retrieved at the crime scene by police, one of them a fully automatic gun. Norwegian police are not typically armed, but will carry guns until further notice out of caution, national chief Benedicte Bjoernland said. | |
The terror alert level in Norway has been raised to its highest level, though the PST intelligence service said it currently had "no indication" further attacks were likely. | |
In a Facebook post, the team at the London Pub called the shooting "absolutely horrific and pure evil". | In a Facebook post, the team at the London Pub called the shooting "absolutely horrific and pure evil". |
"Our thoughts go to the dead, injured and relatives," the post said. "All employees... are safe and physically unharmed. Take care of each other during this time." | |
A woman told the Verdens Gang newspaper that the gunman had taken careful aim at his targets. "When I understood that it was serious, I ran. There was a man covered in blood motionless on the floor," she said. | A woman told the Verdens Gang newspaper that the gunman had taken careful aim at his targets. "When I understood that it was serious, I ran. There was a man covered in blood motionless on the floor," she said. |
Another man told the newspaper he had seen a lot of people on the ground with head wounds. | Another man told the newspaper he had seen a lot of people on the ground with head wounds. |
Police are investigating whether Oslo's gay Pride parade - which was scheduled for Saturday - was a target in the attack | |
King Harald, Norway's monarch, said he and his family were "horrified" by the violence. | |
He said "we must stand together" to defend "freedom, diversity and respect for each other". | |
Norway's Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl said the incident had shaken the country. | Norway's Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl said the incident had shaken the country. |
"Norway is a community of trust where everyone should feel safe outside on a Saturday night," NRK quoted her as saying. |