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Norway shopping centre stabbing victim dies, other in critical condition

A 17-year-old girl has died from wounds suffered during Wednesday’s stabbing incident at the Sørlandsenteret shopping centre in Kristiansand.

Published: 27 July 2017 15:38 CEST
Norway shopping centre stabbing victim dies, other in critical condition
The Coop store where the stabbing incidents took place was closed on Thursday. Photo: Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB scanpix
The other stabbing victim, a 23-year-old woman, was still in critical condition as of Thursday afternoon. 
 
“The deceased is Marie Skuland, 17 years old from Kristiansand. She was employed as a summer worker at Coop Obs Sørlandsenteret,” acting prosecutor Cecilie Pedersen Hille of the Agder police district said.
 
The two stabbings occurred in different locations within the Coop store on  Wednesday evening. 
 
A 15-year-old girl has been arrested for carrying out the attacks. 
 
Critically injured
At a press conference on Thursday morning, police reported that the injured 23-year-old had been flown to Oslo University Hospital during the night after initial treatment at Sørlandet Hospital.
 
“Her condition is considered critical,” Hille said.
 
The police are now investigating whether there is any relationship between the victims and the 15-year-old, but so far they have nothing to indicate any previous connections. 
 
“This occurred in a large shopping mall with many employees and a lot of witnesses. We are asking witnesses to make themselves known and we need more information about what happened,” Hille said. 
 
Suspect escaped from child welfare centre
According to police, the 15-year-old suspect had escaped from a child welfare institution earlier in the day. The suspect was known to the police prior to this incident. 
 
“She has been questioned but the interrogation had to be cancelled because of her condition. She has been admitted to the child and adolescent psychiatric department in Arendal,” Hille said. 
 
The girl’s defence lawyer, Hege Klem, said that she has met with her client but that they did not discuss the stabbing attack. 
 
“She was not able to be questioned. She is in deep despair,” Klem told NTB.
 
An expert has been appointed to assess the 15-year-old’s mental condition. She faces charges of murder and attempted murder. 
 
Chaotic scenes in shopping centre
According to witness reports, the 15-year-old suspect was seen moving through the shopping centre with a large knife in her hands.
 
“She was young, shouting and crying. It was hard to understand what she said. But it sounded like she was calling for help,” one of the witnesses, Sebastian Storaas, told Fædrelandsvennen. 
 
Several of the stores in the shopping centre locked their doors to shield customers and employees while the drama was unfolding.
 
According to one witness, the girl picked up a knife from a sushi restaurant, but it is uncertain whether this is the same knife used in the stabbings. 
 
Kristiansand Municipality has activated its crisis team to deal with the aftermath of the incident.
 
“This is deeply tragic and an incredibly sad event. Our thoughts and deepest compassion go to the family of the deceased and the injured,” municipal spokesman Jørgen Kristiansen said. 
 
The Coop Obs supermarket in Sørlandssenteret was closed on Thursday but planned to open its doors again on Friday. 

SPORT

Norwegian police charge Olympic champion’s father for domestic violence

Norwegian police said Monday that Gjert Ingebrigtsen, father and former coach of 1,500m Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen, had been charged with domestic violence against a family member.

Published: 29 April 2024 16:41 CEST
Norwegian police charge Olympic champion's father for domestic violence

Jakob Ingebrigtsen and two of his brothers, Henrik and Filip, who are also athletes, shocked Norway last October when they accused their father of being violent.

“We grew up with a very aggressive and authoritarian father, who used physical violence and threats as part of his upbringing,” the brothers wrote in an op-ed for newspaper VG. “We still feel a sense of discomfort and fear that we have felt since childhood,” they added.

Police opened a probe into the abuse claims and on Monday said prosecutors had decided to charge Gjert Ingebrigtsen, 58, with domestic violence against one of his children.

According to a source close to the case, the acts in question do not concern the trio of known athletes but another, younger child.

Over a period of four years, from 2018 to 2022, Gjert Ingebrigtsen allegedly manhandled, insulted, threatened and hit the child in the face with his hand or with a towel.

Responding to questions from AFP, Therese Braut Vage, who led the investigation, would not confirm this account.

Police said they had closed investigations into other events concerning the six other children in the home either due to a lack of evidence or, in one case, because the statute of limitations having expired.

Gjert, who coached Jakob until after the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo — where Jakob won the gold — has always denied the accusations against him.

“As far as the dismissed cases, we agree that there is no evidence to prove that Ingebrigtsen committed any wrongdoing,” his lawyer John Christian Elden told AFP on Monday.

“For the rest, Ingebrigtsen disputes the description of the facts on which the indictment is based — and he therefore does not admit his guilt,” he continued in an email.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen is the most successful of the three brothers, twice winning gold in the world championships 5000m in 2022 and 2023, as well as the Olympic 1500m gold.

The 23-year-old is also preparing for the Olympic Games in Paris this summer.

Henrik, 33, and Filip, 31, were European champions in the 1500m in 2012 and 2016 respectively.

After breaking with his sons, Gjert Ingebrigtsen shocked Norwegian athletics by becoming the trainer of another runner, Narve Gilje Nordas.

The Norwegian Olympic Committee has said that Gjert will not be granted accreditation for the Olympic Games in Paris this summer, as was the case at last year’s World Athletics Championships.

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