Many Norwegians recall it all too well: politicians, residents and Norway’s royal family together mourning an act of home-grown mass violence that profoundly shook a Scandinavian nation where such tragedies are rare.
A bow-and-arrow attack that killed five people and wounded three in a quiet town Wednesday brought immediate comparisons with a terror attack a decade and three months earlier that still ranks as Norway’s worst peacetime act of slaughter.
Norwegian police identified the attacker as Espen Andersen Braathen, a 37-year-old Danish citizen, who was arrested on the street
Local teacher Ingebsorg Spangelo said she brought her students to visit the memorial where candles, flowers and stuffed animals had been laid in a central square.
‘It's a small community so almost everybody know each other,’ she said, adding the students wanted to come and be together.
Andersen Braathen is being held on preliminary charges and will face a custody hearing Friday. Police said they believe he acted alone.