The attack left five people dead

Perpetrator of deadly attack in Norway is radicalised convert to Islam

photo_camera PHOTO/ Ole Berg-Rusten/NTB vía REUTERS - Outgoing Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg makes a statement in front of the Royal Palace in Oslo, Norway, 14 October 2021.

The perpetrator of an attack that killed five people and injured two in Kongsberg, southwestern Norway, on Wednesday is a convert to Islam who was on a list of people of concern because of his radicalisation, police said on Thursday.

"Police were in contact with him earlier, there was a concern related to his radicalisation. But we have not registered any warnings in 2021," Ole Bredrup Sæverud, commissioner of the southwest district, told a press conference.

Sæverud stressed, however, that the investigation is at an early stage and that it will take time to clarify the motives, so he refused to say for sure that it is a terrorist attack.

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The assailant, a 37-year-old Danish national who had lived in Kongsberg for some time, used other weapons in the attack, and police are "fairly certain" that he acted alone.

The dead are four women and one man aged between 50 and 70 whose identities have not yet been made public; one of the two injured is a policeman who was on a day off.

Norwegian police received a tip-off at 18.13 local time (16.13 GMT) that a man armed with a bow and arrows was moving around the centre of Kongsberg, and five minutes later several officers contacted him, but he managed to escape after firing arrows at them.

The arrest took place at 18.47 local time, and in the action, police fired warning shots.

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"From what we know so far, it seems clear that the attacker killed some, probably all of them, after first contacting the police," said Sæverud, who called for videos and photos of the attack to be stopped on social media.

The investigating prosecutor, Ann Irén Svane Mathiassen, had earlier revealed to Norwegian media that the individual has admitted the facts and that he "contacted" the health services on several occasions in the past.

During the manhunt for the individual, in which helicopters and special police forces were mobilised, the authorities asked residents to stay indoors after finding that one person had been shot with an arrow.

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Acting Prime Minister Erna Solberg called the incident "horrific", similar terms to those used by opposition Labour leader Jonas Gahr Støre, who will take office today after winning the general election a month ago.

The Kongsberg Town Council has set up a reception centre for relatives and those affected and mobilised a crisis team to deal with the situation.

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