Last night’s attack on an LGBT cafe in the Norwegian capital Oslo, which left two people dead, is the work of a man who had been known for years as a radicalized Muslim. This was announced by the Norwegian intelligence service PST on Saturday at a press conference Norwegian media and international news agencies. The 42-year-old suspect, a Norwegian of Iranian descent, has a long history of violence, according to PST. He has been convicted of assault and drug possession in the past. He has also struggled with mental health problems, the service said.
Soon after the shooting, the police said they saw the incident as a possible terrorist act. According to PST, that is indeed the case: the service speaks of an “extreme act of Islamist terrorism”. The suspect, who was arrested after the attack, came into the picture at PST in 2015 because he was said to be radicalized and part of an extremist network. Last month, employees of the service still had conversations with him, but it would not have been clear that the man intended to use violence.
The influence of the suspect’s mental health on his act is still being investigated. Against the Norwegian strip newspaper VG says the police to have ‘pretty strong’ indications that a hate crime, specifically targeting gays, has taken place. PST has declared the highest threat level for terrorist attacks in response to the shooting.
The two people killed in the attack were a man in his 50s and a man in his 60s, according to police. In addition, 21 were injured, according to AFP news agency, ten of them seriously.
At the time of the shooting, around one o’clock in the night from Friday to Saturday, the LGBTI cafe, the London pub, was quite busy. Shots were also fired in front of a nearby cafe. Pride was celebrated in Oslo, the LGBTI event that would culminate on Saturday with a parade through the city. It is canceled due to the attack.