Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Bow and arrow killer ‘was known threat’
‘Radicalised’ convert had long record
As far as I know, he is a paranoid schizophrenic & can be very dangerous
THE man who slaughtered five people with a bow and arrow in a terror spree was flagged as a threat before the bloodbath in Norway.
Espen Andersen Brathen, 37, was a Muslim convert who had been identified by police due to “radicalisation”.
Danish-born Brathen, who has confessed to the attack, appeared in a Youtube video in which he read out a warning in English, calling himself a messenger. In footage since deleted, he said: “Bear witness that I am a Muslim.”
In 2017, one of his friends reportedly wrote to police: “As far as I know, he is a paranoid schizophrenic and can be very dangerous. I think the content in these videos is very scary.”
Four women and one man aged between 50 and 70 were killed in the attack in Kongsberg on Wednesday. Ceramic artist Hanne Englund, in her 50s, was last night the first victim to be named. She was found in a pool of blood outside her home studio.
Three people were injured, including an off-duty officer, and were said to be stable in hospital.
South-east Norway’s police chief Ole Bredrup said officers were called at 6.12pm after victims were shot at with a bow and arrow.
They confronted the attacker six minutes later, but he shot at them and fled. He was held 30 minutes later, having killed five people.
Police said his rampage “appeared to be a terrorist act”.
Brathen has a long criminal record, including an incident last year when he threatened to kill his dad while carrying a handgun. He had gone to his father’s house with the Colt revolver and made threats, before fleeing and leaving the gun behind. Two relatives then took out a restraining order against him, which he breached last August. He also has previous convictions for aggravated theft and drugs going back to 2011.
Police prosecutor Ann Iren Svane Mathiassen confirmed Brathen had converted to Islam and “there were fears linked to radicalisation previously”.
Officers are “relatively sure that he acted alone”, she said.
Brathen, who is to be assessed by psychiatrists, has entered no plea to criminal charges but is said to have admitted the attack, Norway’s deadliest since far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 in 2011.
Norway’s security service confirmed the attack appeared to be an act of terror, though no motive had been established. Officers there have been ordered to carry firearms.