By Jan M. Olsen

A man armed with a bow and arrows killed several people and wounded others Wednesday near the Norwegian capital of Oslo before he was arrested, authorities said.

The police chief in the town of Kongsberg said there was “a confrontation” between officers and the assailant, but he did not elaborate. He said there were several deaths but offered no details.

Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported that at least four people were dead.

“The man who carried out the act has been arrested by the police, and there is no active search for more people. Based on the information we have, there is one person behind this,” Police Chief Oeying Aas said.

Acting Prime Minister Erna Solberg described the attack as “gruesome” and said it was too early to speculate on the man's motive. The prime minister-designate, Jonas Gahr Stoere, who is expected to take office Thursday, called the assault “a cruel and brutal act” in comments to Norwegian news agency NTB.

Police were alerted to the attack around 6:30 p.m. and arrested the suspect about 20 minutes later. The community is 66 kilometers (41 miles) southwest of Oslo.

According to police, the suspect walked around the city shooting at people with arrows. Several people were wounded in shops, Aas said.

The man has not been questioned yet, Aas said.

City officials invited people who were affected by the attack and their relatives to gather for support at a local hotel.

The attack comes over a decade after Anders Behring Breivik, a right-wing extremist, set off a bomb in Oslo’s government district and then carried out a shooting massacre at the summer camp of the left-wing Labor Party’s youth organization on Utoya island. The violence on July 22, 2011, killed 77 people and stunned Norway.

Breivik was sentenced to 21 years in prison, the maximum under Norwegian law, but his term can be extended as long as he’s considered a danger to society.

Share:
More In Culture
Bethany Joy Lenz on Adapting 'So Cold in the River' to the Big Screen
Actor Bethany Joy Lenz joined Cheddar New to discuss her new supernatural thriller "So Cold in the River," coming to theaters March 25. The film is based on the bestselling novel of the same name, and Lenz noted that there was some pressure in bringing the story to the screen. "Just wanting to make sure that we did justice to the story that everyone loves was it was a little nerve-racking, but I think we pulled it off," she said. Lenz also talked about the 10-year reunion for the show "One Tree Hill" on the set of former castmate Sophia Bush’s show ‘Good Sam’ on CBS. "Part of being an actor is just being able to carry with you all the experience that you've had in life and in other roles," Lenz noted.
'Ignite' Training Women to Run for Public Office
Ignite works to recruit and train women to run for elected office. As a part of Cheddar News' celebration of Women's History Month, CEO Sara Guillermo joins Cheddar Politics to discuss her organization's work ahead of the 2022 midterms.
Do Award Shows Really Matter?
Awards season is underway and the Oscars are right around the corner. But with the 'best picture' nominees barely breaking the box-office bank, why do we tune in to hours-long broadcasts for movies we don't even watch? The answer is we don’t. Ratings for award shows have plummeted in recent years but it seems everything these organizations do to try and keep viewers isn’t working. This year the Academy of Motion Picture Sciences decided the answer was to cut eight awards from the live broadcast to help with time. Now it’s facing backlash from nearly every angle in the industry. Cheddar's own JD Durkin reports.
Gig Economy Apps Push Back Against Reclassifying Workers
Uber Lyft and Doordash are all set to spend $1 million dollars on a campaign and efforts to stop lawmakers from classifying their gig workers as employees. The campaign features TV and online ads highlighting Washington area workers who say they prefer the flexibility of being an independent contractor rather than following the model of a company employee. Professor at NYU. Stern School of Business and author of the sharing economy, Arun Sundararajan, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
This Dating App is Made for Music Lovers
Rachel Van Nortwick, CEO and Founder of Vinylly, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how this dating app is designed with music lovers in mind, pairing matches based on each individual's unique taste in music.
Andrea Macasaet Brings Anne Boleyn to Broadway's 'Six' Featuring an All-Female Cast
The Broadway musical “Six” tells the stories of the six wives of King Henry VIII, featuring a diverse cast and musical crew comprised entirely of women. Andrea Macasaet, starring as Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn, joined Cheddar News to talk about what theatergoers can expect from the new musical take on English history. "You have a group of women from different walks of life retelling the story of these women in history, these queens, and they're far beyond the moments of their marriage, or their divorce — or their beheadings," she said.
Load More