A gunman opened fire on a hunting party in a wooded area of southeastern Norway on Sunday morning, killing two people and seriously wounding a third, police said.
Officers arrested a male suspect at the scene, and preliminary information indicates he was not a member of the hunting party, police said in a statement carried by The Associated Press. The wounded victim was flown to a hospital for treatment. Police have not said what prompted the attack.
The shooting happened near Halden, close to the Swedish border. Accounts differed on the town’s distance from the capital: the AP put it about 96 kilometers (60 miles) from Oslo, while AFP, in a report carried by BSS News of Bangladesh, described it as about 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Oslo.
What We Know So Far
The shots were fired around 7:30 a.m. local time in a wooded area east of Halden, according to a China Daily report that drew on the Norwegian news agency NTB. Police incident commander Wilhelm Bjolseth told NTB that all three victims belonged to the same hunting party.
Witnesses detained the suspect and handed him over to officers when they arrived, Bjolseth told NTB, per China Daily. Police said they do not suspect any other perpetrators, and the motive, along with any relationship between the suspect and those who were shot, remained unclear.
“Three people were hit by bullets. Two are dead. The third is seriously wounded,” police representative Gisle Lindheim Sveen wrote on the force’s information website, in comments AFP relayed. Police said the circumstances of the shooting were still unclear.
A large emergency response was mobilized, including police officers, ambulances and helicopters, China Daily reported. Norway’s National Criminal Investigation Service, known as Kripos, told NTB it would assist the investigation at the request of the local police district.
What Authorities Are Saying
Halden Mayor Fredrik Holm said local authorities were working to build a full picture of what happened and to arrange support for the victims’ relatives, according to China Daily’s account.
Why This Matters
Police have not released the identities of the dead or the wounded, and they have not said whether the suspect knew the hunting party. The fact that investigators believe the suspect was not part of the group, together with the request for Kripos assistance, points to an inquiry still in its earliest stage, with the central questions of motive and relationship open.
What Happens Next
The investigation is continuing, with Kripos supporting the local police district. Police have not said when they expect to release more information about the suspect, the victims or the circumstances of the shooting, and it was not immediately clear what charges the suspect may face.
Reporting drawn from the Associated Press, China Daily (citing the Norwegian news agency NTB) and BSS News (citing AFP)
