Five people were killed and two others injured in Kongsberg (southeast Norway) on Wednesday evening in an attack carried out with a bow and arrow by a Danish man residing in the town, before he was arrested by the police, who did not rule out the possibility of a terrorist attack. Local police official Iven Aas confirmed at a press conference, "Unfortunately, I can confirm that five people have been killed and two others are injured." He added that the injured individuals were taken to the intensive care unit, but their lives are not in danger. Aas clarified that one of the injured was a police officer who was off-duty shopping inside a store, one of the many locations where the assailant targeted his victims. He noted, "The police arrested the man who committed this act, and according to our information, there is only one person involved in the attack."
Late Wednesday into Thursday, the police announced in a statement that the suspect is a 37-year-old Danish citizen living in Kongsberg. The police stated, "We have decided to confirm this information because many rumors are circulating on social media regarding the attacker, some of which accuse individuals who are completely unrelated to the serious acts that were committed." The motivation of the attacker, who was taken to a police station in the nearby city of Drammen, remains unclear, but the police did not rule out the possibility of a terrorist attack. However, the TV station TV2, known for its reliable reporting, stated that the attacker, who carried a bow and arrow as well as a knife and other weapons, had converted to Islam and had a history of mental illness, information that has not been confirmed by the authorities. Aas said, "Given the circumstances of what happened, it is natural to investigate whether this is a terrorist attack," stressing that "the detained man has not been interrogated yet, and it is too early to discuss his motives." The police confirmed that they are not searching for any other suspects.
The attack took place shortly before 6:30 PM local time (4:30 PM GMT) in the center of Kongsberg. The police tweeted that witnesses saw the man armed with a bow and arrow targeting individuals. An arrow lodged in a wall, and citizens were urged to stay indoors. Several neighborhoods were closed off, and television footage showed a heavy police presence with armed officers and ambulances. Helicopters for both police and medical assistance, as well as an engineering unit, were sent to the scene. The internal security service was notified of the incident. The public broadcaster NRK published a photo on its website sent by a witness showing a black arrow embedded in one of the walls. The police received the first report of the attack at 6:13 PM (4:13 PM GMT) and arrested the suspect at 6:47 PM, about half an hour later.
A reporter for AFP noted that in Kongsberg, a small town with a population of about 25,000 located 80 kilometers west of the capital Oslo, the police established a security cordon around the attack site. An eyewitness named Hasina told TV2 that she heard a commotion and saw a woman trying to take cover and "a man in the corner of the street with a quiver of arrows on his shoulder carrying a bow." She added, "After that, I saw people running for their lives, including a woman carrying a child in her arms." On Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Erna Solberg commented on the attack, stating that "these events shake us." This was Solberg's last day in power, as she would be stepping down on Thursday to make way for Labor Party leader Jonas Gahr Støre, who won the legislative elections held on September 13. Norway, which is usually a peaceful country, has experienced previous attacks carried out by right-wing extremists. On July 22, 2011, Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people by detonating a bomb near the Norwegian government headquarters in Oslo before opening fire on a Workers' Youth League gathering on the island of Utøya. In August 2019, Philip Manshaus opened fire in a mosque located in the outskirts of Oslo before being subdued by worshippers. He did not cause any serious injuries that day but had earlier killed his adopted Asian sister out of racial motives.
