Norway bow-and-arrow attack suspect Espen Andersen Bråthen charged with murder
Espen Andersen Bråthen, a 37-year-old Danish citizen, was arrested Wednesday over the attack, which took place in the Norwegian town of Kongsberg that evening.
He is being held in a secure health unit rather than a prison, police inspector Per Thomas Omholt said at a press conference Friday in Kongsberg.
Police have interviewed more than 50 witnesses, he said, and are checking the suspect’s digital media. “This is a very serious case for [the] local community and the country. We will find out what has happened,” he said.
“We are working with many hypotheses [regarding the motive], but the main one at the moment is health related,” he added. “The hypothesis around jihad has not been strengthened in the same way as the health hypothesis.”
Police revealed Thursday that Bråthen had converted to Islam and that officers had previously been in contact with him, including over concerns related to radicalization.
“We have taken three weapons total” from him, Omholt said, but would not specify what they were.
The identities of the five people killed have not yet been made public, the inspector said. Police are continuing to work to identify and notify next of kin.
A regional police spokesperson told CNN earlier Friday that Bråthen had been handed over to health services and would not appear in court that day.
Bråthen “is not disputing what happened,” the police spokesperson told CNN.
The prosecution has asked a judge that the suspect is held in detention for at least four weeks, including two in isolation, the spokesperson added. The court is expected to make a decision later on Friday, according to a press release from the regional police.
Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) chief Hans Sverre Sjøvold told reporters on Thursday that the attack “appears as if it may be an act of terrorism” but noted that it is important the investigation goes ahead and “we get to clarify what the motives of the accused are.”
Police chief Ole Bredrup Sæverud said Thursday that the police had “received no reports in 2021 regarding radicalization” in relation to the suspect, but that concerns had been raised previously.
Four women and one man were killed in the attack. They were all aged 50 to 70 years, Sæverud said.
People laid flowers and lit candles at a vigil for the victims in Kongsberg on Thursday evening, with more stopping by to pay their respects at the makeshift memorial on Friday.
Newly inaugurated Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre was expected to travel to the town later Friday.
Speaking Thursday at a press conference in the capital, Oslo, Gahr Støre said he hoped to visit alongside the Minister for Justice in order to express their “support” to those affected.
The tragedy coincided with Gahr Støre’s announcement of the new Norwegian government Thursday. Acknowledging this during the press conference, he called it “a very special day to present a new government” in light of the country experiencing a “horribly cruel attack on innocent people last night.”
He expressed his relief that Norwegian police had arrested the suspect, while emphasizing that the outcome was still “deeply tragic.”
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