Two killed in attack on Oslo LGBTQ club; Norway raises terror alert

At least two people were killed and 10 seriously injured early Saturday in a shooting attack on an LGBTQ nightclub in Oslo, Norway. Norwegian authorities raised the country’s terror threat to its highest level Saturday.

Police charged a 42-year-old man with murder, attempted murder and terrorist acts, as a stunned nation reeled from the attack, which came hours before Oslo’s Pride parade was scheduled to take place. Authorities did not immediately release his name Saturday.

The attack is being viewed as an act of “extreme Islamist terror,” the head of the country’s domestic intelligence and security service, Roger Berg, said in a news conference. Berg said the suspect, a Norwegian citizen who was born in Iran, has suffered from mental health problems.

Police said the man was known to them from previous, relatively minor run-ins with the law. He had previously been accused of violence toward people close to him, the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten reported.

Norwegian news media reported that the suspect immigrated from Iran with his family in the 1990s when he was 12.

The gunman opened fire at around 1 a.m. local time at the London Pub, which calls itself Oslo’s “gay headquarters since 1979,” and at a second bar and a fast-food restaurant, Norwegian media reported.

“I saw a man arrive at the site with a bag,” said Olav Ronneberg, a journalist for NRK. “He picked up a weapon and started shooting.”

The suspect was arrested a short time later. Police said they believe he acted alone.

Oslo Pride leaders said Saturday they had canceled the parade and all related events on police advice and implored people who planned to participate to stay away.

But a spontaneous march formed in the afternoon as crowds holding rainbow flags took to the city’s streets to pay tribute to the victims.

The two men who were killed were in their 50s and 60s, Police said Saturday. Ten people were seriously wounded; 11 others suffered minor injuries.

A spokeswoman for Oslo University Hospital told The Washington Post that the facility received seven patients, and one other person was sent to a hospital outside the Norwegian capital.

Authorities said police arrested the suspect near the scene of the attack and seized two weapons, including an automatic gun.

“There is reason to think that this may be a hate crime,” police said, according to Reuters. “We are investigating whether the Pride was a target in itself or whether there are other motives.”

Police attorney Christian Hatlo said the terrorism charge was based on the number of casualties and the gunman’s apparent intention to create “serious fear.”

Berg said the suspect had been known since 2015 to the country’s security service, which grew concerned he was “associated with an extremely Islamist environment,” Aftenposten reported. The security service was last in touch with him in May, Berg said.

“In these conversations, it was assessed that he had no intention of violence, but (the service) is aware that he has had challenges related to mental health,” the service said in a statement.

The suspect’s lawyer, John Christian Elden, told the Associated Press that his client “hasn’t denied” carrying out the attack but has not provided a motive.

“It is too early to conclude whether this is hate crime or terrorism,” he said.

Norwegian police, who do not routinely carry firearms, will now be given arms temporarily, Police Security Service head Benedicte Bjornland said. The service said it was investigating whether further attacks were planned, but added: “For now, we have no indication of that.”

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store condemned the shooting. He described it as “a cruel and deeply shocking attack on innocent people.” The London Pub called the attack “pure evil.”

Norway’s King Harald said he and his family were “horrified” by the shooting and extended condolences to the victims and their families.

“We must stand together to defend our values: freedom, diversity and respect for each other,” he said.

Crown Prince Haakon and his family joined the prime minister Saturday to lay roses near the site of the attack.

John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, told reporters traveling on Air Force One Saturday that the Biden administration had offered condolences and support to Norway, Reuters reported.

“We’re all horrified by the mass shooting in Oslo today targeting the LGBTQI+ community there and our hearts obviously go out to the all the families of the victims, the people of Norway, which is a tremendous ally, and of course the LGBTQI+ community there and around the world,” he said.

Sadiq Khan, mayor of the city whose name the pub bears, also offered his condolences. “London stands with Oslo,” he wrote on Twitter. “#LoveIsLove and hate will never win.”

London Pub is located in the vicinity of the Storting, Norway’s legislature. It has hosted Pride-related celebrations for years and on Thursday held a drag show and a Pride-themed bingo session.

Norway has some of Europe’s more gay-friendly laws. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store this year marked the 50th anniversary of the country’s decriminalization of male same-sex relations by formally apologizing for its past treatment of the LGBTQ community.

“I apologize for the fact that the Norwegian authorities conveyed, through legislation, and also a range of other discriminatory practices, that gay love was not acceptable,” he said.

In July 2011, a Norwegian man killed 77 people by setting off a bomb outside the prime minister’s office in Oslo and opening fire at a youth summer camp organized by the left-leaning Labor Party. Norwegian lawmakers have since banned semiautomatic weapons such as the type of firearm used in that rampage.

A survivor of the 2011 massacre found himself fleeing bullets again early Saturday. Eivind Rindal told Norway’s TV2 that he had been standing at the outdoor terrace of a neighboring bar when he heard the first shots and saw a person pointing a weapon. He escaped from the area with a friend.

The experience revived memories of the mass shooting more than a decade earlier, Rindal said. But he added: “I will not let the fear of terror or violence define my life and freedom.”