During police interrogation, Aspen Anderson Brathen confessed to committing the murder and injuring 3 others.
Oslo:
Norwegian police said on Monday that five victims of last week’s attack were struck with a “sharp object” used by the suspect, not a bow and arrow.
“At some point he gave up or lost his bow and arrow,” Police Inspector Per Thomas Omholt told reporters.
He said the suspect “killed five people with a sharp object at private addresses and in public places” during Wednesday’s attack in the small town of Kongsberg.
Police, who previously said suspect Aspen Anderson Brathen was armed with a bow and arrow and two other weapons, did not specify the nature of the sharp weapons.
Police said they were still interviewing witnesses.
“Everything points to the victims being randomly selected,” Ohmholt said.
According to police, a “double-digit” number of people were also shot with arrows at the start of the attack, but no one was killed with this weapon.
During police interrogation, Brathen has confessed to killing five and injuring three others.
The 37-year-old Danish national has publicly announced that he has converted to Islam and police have said radicalization was suspected.
warning signs
He is being held in a medical facility, pending a mental evaluation, which is needed to determine whether Brathen can be held legally responsible for his actions.
“As far as the motive is concerned, disease remains the main hypothesis. And as far as conversion to Islam is concerned, this hypothesis is weak,” Ohmholt said.
On Saturday, police announced the identities of five victims, four women and one man: Andrea Meyer, 52, Hanne Merethe Englund, 56, Liv Berit Borge, 75, Gunnar Erling Sauve, 75, and Gun Marithe Madsen, 78.
Brathen was living in Kongsberg, home to about 25,000 people, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of the capital Oslo, and officials have said he has a medical history, though details have not been made public.
The Norwegian security service PST, which is responsible for fighting terrorism, also said the man was on their radar.
Police in the days following the attack referred to “radical fears” dating back to 2020 and earlier, which they said had followed at the time.
According to the public broadcaster NRK, the first warnings were received in 2015 and according to Norwegian media, PST warned in 2018 that the suspect could launch a “small-scale attack”.
News website Nettavisen also published a video purportedly posted by Brathen on social media in 2017, in which he issued a “warning” declaring his Muslim religion.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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