A suspected far-right gunman in police uniform killed at least 85 people in a ferocious attack on a youth summer camp of Norway’s ruling Labour party, hours after a bomb killed seven in the capital Oslo.
Witnesses said the gunman — identified by the police as a 32-year-old Norwegian and named by local media as Anders Behring Breivik — moved across the small island of Utoeya in a lake northwest of Oslo late Friday, firing at people.
Police detained the tall, blond suspect and charged him with the killing spree as well as the bombing of government buildings in Oslo.
On Saturday he admitted to firing weapons on the Island. The toll may rise further, authorities said.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, capturing the shock this normally quiet nation of 4.8 million is experiencing, said: “A paradise island has been transformed into a hell.”
Deputy police chief Roger Andresen would not speculate on the motives for what was believed to be the deadliest attack by a lone gunman anywhere in modern times. “He describes himself as a Christian, leaning toward right-wing Christianity, on his Facebook page,” Andresen said.
The media said the Oslo bomb was made of fertiliser and that the suspect owned a company, Breivik Geofarm, which a
supply firm said he had used to buy the material. “These were goods delivered on May 4,” Oddny Estenstad, a spokeswoman at farm supply chain Felleskjoepet Agri, said. “It was six tonnes of fertiliser, which is a small, normal order for a standard agricultural producer.”
The media said the Oslo bomb was made of fertiliser and that the suspect owned a company, Breivik Geofarm, which a
supply firm said he had used to buy the material. “These were goods delivered on May 4,” Oddny Estenstad, a spokeswoman at farm supply chain Felleskjoepet Agri, said. “It was six tonnes of fertiliser, which is a small, normal order for a standard agricultural producer.”
It was not clear if Breivik — a gun club member, according to the media — had more than one weapon or if he’d stocked ammunition on Utoeya, where explosives were found. The police said they were also checking media reports that Breivik had an accomplice.