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KONGSBERG, Norway — The person accused of killing 5 individuals and wounding two others with a bow and arrow within the small Scandinavian city of Kongsberg has confessed to the rampage, his protection lawyer mentioned in an interview on Friday.
Espen Anderson Brathen, 37, a Danish citizen and native convert to Islam, “admits to committing the acts he’s charged with,’’ mentioned his lawyer, Fredrick Neumann, including that his consumer was additionally present process a psychological well being analysis “by medical doctors and well being personnel.”
Mr. Brathen, who has been charged with homicide, has not but pleaded within the case, regardless of his request for forgiveness. After a court docket listening to on Friday, his detention was prolonged as investigators proceed to assemble their case, following a horrifying killing spree this week that unfold worry on this city of 27,000 individuals and shocked your entire nation.
Mr. Brathen was arrested on Wednesday night after he entered a Coop Additional grocery store in Kongsberg and commenced firing arrows from a looking bow at consumers, the authorities say. He then stormed by means of the streets, at one level eluding police and firing arrows in a number of instructions, leaving a complete of 5 individuals lifeless and two others wounded.
The authorities have mentioned that the assault had the hallmarks of “an act of terror,” however they haven’t but provided a motive for the assault. They’re additionally analyzing previous incidents through which Mr. Brathen exhibited violent tendencies.
Final yr, the suspect was given a six-month restraining order on the request of his mother and father. In accordance with court docket data, his mother and father known as the police after Mr. Brathen refused to go away their home, threatened to kill his father and left a Colt revolver on their couch. Mr. Brathen was beforehand convicted of theft and drug possession.
“We’re all shocked by what occurred,” Kongsberg’s mayor, Anne Sand, mentioned in a Friday information convention. “It’s a tragic occasion, and we as a society should carry it with us for a few years”
Norway’s new prime minister, Jonas Gahr Retailer, who took up his submit on Thursday, is predicted to go to the city quickly.
Within the city middle on Friday morning, residents milled round a memorial of candles and flowers commemorating the victims. One lady, 75, who declined to be recognized, described the killings as a tragedy and questioned whether or not Mr. Brathen had fallen by means of the cracks of the native psychological well being system.
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