“Always Alone”, “A Smile” … What we know about the suspect arrested after the archery attack in Norway

Emotions were high in the quiet city of Kansberg in the southeast of Scandinavia, where residents gathered Thursday evening to pray with candles.

“We are a small community, we have to be with each other”, 29-year-old teacher Christine Johansson told AFP.

The 37-year-old Danish citizen, who was described by police as having converted to Islam and reported extremism, admitted that he had carried out the attack, including a bow and arrow, before being arrested.

“We want to put him on trial for at least four weeks.”, The attorney general in the case, Ann Iron Swan Mathiason, told AFP.

The Kansberg court is due to rule on Friday morning, but without a preliminary statement from the attacker: according to police, Breton did not object to his imprisonment, allowing for a simplified procedure. “I don’t think he will appear”, A dit emme swane mathiyasen.

Particularly in the light of operational policy, the suspect was blindfolded and warned of possible exacerbations, meaning that the path of Islamic terrorism seems to have been privileged.

“There is no doubt that this act appears to be an act of terrorism, but it is now important that the investigation progresses and that the motives of the suspect are clarified.”BST chairman Hans Sware Zholt told a news conference Thursday.

Authorities also did not rule out the possibility of mental disorders.

“This is a person who has been going back and forth through the health care system for a while.”, A soligne m. Sware Zolt.

According to Ms Swan Mathiasen, Breten began a psychiatric assessment on Thursday, but the findings are expected to take several months.

“Never smile”

Suspicious “Known” Of the PST, it is primarily responsible for terrorism in Norway, but some details have been provided in this regard.

“Previously there were fears about radicalization”, For his part, explained a police officer, Ole Frederub Severut. Those fears were 2020 and earlier, and led to police pursuit, he said.

According to Norwegian media reports, Breten has been the target of two court rulings in the past: last year he threatened to kill one of two close family members and in 2012 was banned from stealing and buying hashish.

A video about him from 2017 was also discovered by several media outlets, where he has been doing the profession of faith in a threatening tone. “I am an ambassador. I came with a warning:” Do you really want this? “ He announces there.

Acting alone, according to police, Pradhan killed four women, aged 50 and 70, and one man in several locations in Kansberg, a small town of about 25,000 people, about 80 kilometers west of Oslo.

Anonymous, a neighbor described him as a large structure and a friendly man with a haircut. “Never smile, no expression on face”, He told the AFP “Always Alone”.

Several planned Islamic attacks in Norway have been thwarted in the past.

But over the past ten years the country has been plagued by two far-right attacks, including the July 22, 2011 attack by Anders Behring Breivik (77 killed).