In Norway, following the killing of five people in a bow and arrow attack, a court hearing is held on Friday, October 15, with the suspect Espen Andersen Brathen appearing in court, British public broadcaster BBC reports.
The Norwegian Police Security Service has stated that the attack, which took place on Wednesday, October 13, in the southern town of Kongsberg, appears to have been an act of terror. The suspect, a 37-year-old Danish citizen named Espen Andersen Brathen, had converted to Islam and there were fears he had been radicalised, while the possible motive has not yet been determined.
Read also: After Norway attack with bow and arrows, Danish citizen detained
Brathen is accused of killing four women and a man all aged between 50 and 70, regional police chief Ole Bredrup Saeverud told reporters at a Thursday, October 14, morning news briefing. The attack was Norway’s deadliest violent attack since far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik murdered 77 people, most of them teenagers, on the island of Utoya in July 2011.
Meanwhile in Kongsberg, local residents have been deeply shaken by the violence. Flags were flown at half-mast on Thursday while flowers and other memorials were placed in Kongsberg’s main square, BBC reports.
Norway’s tragic bow and arrow attack could have been terrorism
