OSLO, June 25 (Reuters) – Terrified revellers at a gay bar in Oslo hid in a basement and desperately known as family members as a gunman went on the rampage, killing two folks and injuring 21 on the day town was because of have fun its annual Pride parade.
Authorities mentioned the suspect, a 42-year-old Norwegian citizen of Iranian origin, was believed to be a radicalised Islamist with a historical past of psychological sickness who had been recognized to intelligence providers since 2015. learn extra
The suspect shall be subjected to a psychiatric analysis within the coming days as a part of the investigation, police mentioned.
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The assault passed off within the early hours of Saturday, with victims shot inside and out of doors the London Pub, a longstanding hub of Oslo’s LGBTQ scene, as nicely as within the surrounding streets and at one different bar within the centre of the Norwegian capital.
The deceased had been two males of their 50s and 60s, police mentioned.
“Everything indicates that this has been an attack by an Islamist extremist,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere informed a information convention.
“We don’t (yet) know if the queer community was the intended target, but we know it is a victim.”
Bili Blum-Jansen, who was within the London Pub, mentioned he fled to the basement to flee the hail of bullets and hid there together with 80 to 100 different folks.
“Many called their partners and family, it felt almost as if they were saying goodbye. Others helped calm down those who were extremely terrified,” he informed TV2.
“I had a bit of panic and thought that if the shooter or shooters were to arrive, we’d all be dead. There was no way out.”
Rainbow flags symbolising the Pride group had been on distinguished show throughout Oslo this week, however Saturday’s deliberate parade was cancelled at the recommendation of police.
“Last night the rainbow was coloured black,” mentioned Anette Trettebergstuen, Norway’s minister of tradition and equality and herself a distinguished campaigner for LGBTQ rights.
‘CRYING AND SCREAMING’
While the official parade was known as off, a number of thousand folks held a spontaneous march in central Oslo, waving rainbow flags and chanting in English: “We’re here, we’re queer, we won’t disappear.”
Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon, his spouse Crown Princess Mette-Marit and their youngest youngster, 16-year-old Prince Sverre Magnus, later joined the prime minister and different officers to put pink and white roses close to the London Pub.
“We must protect the right in Norway to love whomever we want,” Haakon informed reporters.
The suspect was detained minutes after embarking on the taking pictures spree, in line with police, who mentioned they believed he acted alone. Two weapons, together with a completely computerized gun, had been retrieved from the crime scene, they added.
People deliver flowers and rainbow flags to pay tribute to the victims as they participate in a spontaneous Pride parade, following a taking pictures at the London Pub, a well-liked gay bar and nightclub, after the official occasion was cancelled, in Oslo, Norway, June 25, 2022. Haakon Mosvold Larsen/NTB/by way of REUTERS
The man has declined to be interrogated by police, his lawyer John Christian Elden informed public broadcaster NRK.
Witnesses described the chaos that erupted inside and out of doors the London Pub, which has been open since 1979.
“Many people were crying and screaming, the injured were screaming, people were distressed and scared – very, very scared,” mentioned Marcus Nybakken, 46, who had left the bar shortly earlier than the taking pictures and returned later to assist.
“My first thought was that Pride was the target, so that’s frightening.”
Journalist Olav Roenneberg of broadcaster NRK mentioned he was within the space at the time and noticed a person arrive with a bag, take out a gun and begin to shoot: “Then I saw windows breaking and understood that I had to take cover.”
WIDESPREAD CONDEMNATION
European leaders condemned the taking pictures, as did the White House.
“I am shocked by the heinous attack on innocent people in Oslo,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted.
“No-one should have to fear for their life or well-being simply for who they are.”
French President Emmanuel Macron, writing in each French and Norwegian on his official Twitter account, expressed his sympathies. “We stand stronger against hate if we stand together,” he mentioned.
John Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council, informed reporters on board Air Force One the Biden administration had been in contact with Norway to supply condolences and help.
“We’re all horrified by the mass shooting in Oslo today targeting the LGBTQI+ community there and our hearts obviously go out to the all the families of the victims, the people of Norway, which is a tremendous ally, and of course the LGBTQI+ community there and around the world,” he mentioned.
Norwegian safety authorities raised the nation’s terrorism risk evaluation to its highest degree following the assault, wherein 21 folks had been additionally wounded, 10 of them severely.
The police, who aren’t usually armed, will carry weapons till additional discover, it mentioned.
Other main occasions within the capital went forward as deliberate on Saturday, police and organisers mentioned, together with a big outside music competition and a soccer match between the ladies’s groups of Norway and New Zealand.
The taking pictures passed off simply months after Norway marked 50 years for the reason that abolition of a legislation that criminalised gay intercourse.
The Nordic nation of 5.4 million has decrease crime charges than many Western international locations, although it has skilled hate-motivated shootings, together with when far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 folks in 2011.
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Reporting by Terje Solsvik and Gwladys Fouche in Oslo, further reporting by Andrea Shalal aboard Air Force One, Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen and Foo Yun Chee in Brussels; Editing by Pravin Char, Frank Jack Daniel, Peter Graff
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