Norway bow and arrow attack suspect likely radicalized

There were growing indications that an attack that left five people dead and two injured in a small Norwegian town may have had terrorist motives.  

Norwegian police said on Thursday there were signs that the suspect in a deadly bow and arrow attack had become radicalized after recently converting to Islam.  

The 37-year-old Danish man is suspected of attacking numerous people with several weapons, including a bow and arrow, in the southern town of Kongsberg on Wednesday night.  

Five people were killed and two injured, all between the ages of 50 and 70, police said. Four of the dead were women, one was a man. Of the two who were injured, one was a police officer shopping in a supermarket.  

Police received the first report of the assailant moving through the city with a bow and arrow at 6:13 pm (1630 GMT) on Wednesday.  

A police patrol spotted him five minutes later but he fired arrows towards the officers and initially managed to flee.  
It is likely the victims were killed shortly afterwards, according to police spokesperson Ole Bredrup Saverud.  
The suspect is thought to have acted alone and resident in southern Norway.  

He is now in custody and ready to co-operate with the police.   

The killings come 10 years after the country’s worst terrorist attack, when 77 people were murdered by a right-wing extremist.
Oslo (dpa) 14 October 2021