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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Huckleberries Online

80 Die In Camp Shooting, 7 In Blast

A Norwegian who dressed as a police officer to gun down summer campers killed at least 80 people at an island retreat, horrified police said early Saturday. It took investigators several hours to begin to realize the full scope of Friday's massacre, which followed an explosion in nearby Oslo that killed seven and that police say was set off by the same suspect. The mass shootings are among the worst in history. With the blast outside the prime minister's office, they formed the deadliest day of terror in Western Europe since the 2004 Madrid train bombings killed 191. Police initially said about 10 were killed at the forested camp on the island of Utoya, but some survivors said they thought the toll was much higher. Police director Oystein Maeland told reporters early Saturday they had discovered many more victims/Associated Press. More here. (AP/Mapaid photo/Lasse Tur: This aerial view shows Utoya Island, Norway. On Friday, a man dressed as a police officer opened fire at the island youth camp connected to the ruling party.)

Question: How do you process the level of evil that is behind mass killings like this, or Virginia Tech, or Fort Hood, or Columbine, or Oklahoma City?



D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

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