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Two killed in Oslo ‘terror attack’: What we know so far

Two people were killed and 21 others wounded in shootings at several bars in central Oslo in the early hours of Saturday in an incident described by police as a "terrorist attack". Here's what's known about what happened, the suspect and possible motive. 

Published: 25 June 2022 10:05 CEST
A file photo of a police officer in Norway
Two people have died and 21 were injured in a shooting in Oslo last night. Pictured: A file photo of a Norwegian police officer outside the Nobel Institute. Photo by Tobias Schwarz / AFP

What happened? 

A shooting took place at around 1:00 am local time in three locations, including a gay bar in central Oslo.

Police received the first reports at 1:14 am, and the suspect was arrested five minutes later, he said.

The shootings happened near the London Pub gay club, the Herr Nilsen jazz club and a takeaway food outlet.

“He looked very determined about where he was aiming. When I realised it was serious, I ran. There was a bleeding man lying on the ground,” a woman who saw the incident told the Verdens Gang newspaper.

According to an NRK radio journalist present at the time of the shooting, the shooter arrived with a bag from which he pulled out a weapon and started firing.

21 people were injured in the attack. Ten received serious injuries, while 11 people received slight wounds. 

“Some are described as seriously injured, others as more lightly injured,” police official Tore Barstad said. 

READ ALSO: Two killed and 21 wounded in Oslo bar ‘terror attack’

Was it a terrorist attack? 

Police have said in a statement that the shootings are being investigated as a terrorist attack. 

“There is reason to think that this is about hate crime. That is one of the hypotheses,” Christian Hatlo, a prosecutor for the police, said at a press conference on Saturday morning. 

NRK reports that the man is not cooperating with police but that his home has been searched. 

Two weapons were seized from the suspect, an automatic weapon and a handgun. 

What do we know about the suspect?

The shooter’s name has not yet been released. However, the man, 42, has been charged with murder, attempted murder and terrorism, police said in a press conference on Saturday morning. 

According to the police, the man is a Norwegian citizen of Iranian origin. The suspect is believed to have acted alone. 

“Now everything indicates that there was only one person who committed this act,” police official Tore Barstad earlier told a press briefing.

The man was known to domestic intelligence services and had had brushes with the law for minor infractions like knife and drug possession, police told a press conference, without naming the suspect.

PST, which handles counter-terrorism in Norway, said that it would hand over any information it had on the suspect to police. 

“We now contribute all relevant information we have to Oslo PD, and work to clarify whether more acts of violence may be planned. So far, we have no indications of that,” PST said on Twitter. 

“Cruel and deeply shocking”

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has described the attack as “a cruel and deeply shocking”.

“My thoughts go to the victims and their relatives. We do not yet know what was behind this terrible act, but to the members of the LGBT community who are now scared and in grief, I want to say that we are all with you in this,” Støre said in a brief statement to newswire NTB.

The London Pub, the location for one of the shootings, said the attack was “pure evil” in a post on its Facebook page. 

Former PM Erna Solberg called the shooting an “attack on love”. 

“The shots outside the London Pub in Oslo are an attack on love. It is an attack on the freedom to love whoever you want,” she said in a statement. 

Oslo pride cancelled

The Pride march that was due to take place in Norway’s capital Oslo on Saturday afternoon has been called off. 

“All events linked to Oslo Pride have been cancelled” following “clear” recommendations by police, the march’s organisers wrote on Facebook.

Organisers of the event have asked people who planned to participate in Oslo Pride Festival not to show up. 

A statement from Oslo Pride on Facebook in light of last night’s shooting.

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OSLO

Is Oslo’s project to speed up work permits on track?

The City of Oslo aims to cut work permit processing times in the capital down from nine months to just three days. The Local has contacted authorities to update readers on the latest developments.

Published: 6 May 2024 10:09 CEST
Is Oslo's project to speed up work permits on track?

For years, Norway has been grappling with a shortage of skilled professionals, notably in the technology and IT sectors.

Recognising the need to address this talent gap, The City of Oslo and other partners launched a pilot project in 2023 called Kompetansespor (Competence Track).

The primary goal was to reduce the lengthy wait times for skilled workers to get work permits from around nine months to three days.

READ ALSO: What’s next for Oslo’s plan to slash work permit waiting times?

But what is the current status of the project? And is the new super-fast work permit process any closer to becoming a reality?

How the project has evolved in 2024

Since its inception, Competence Track has evolved into a more ambitious project that goes beyond just cutting work permit times.

The project’s focus has shifted towards new goals, which mostly revolve around exploring the use of a “digital wallet” to streamline the immigration process.

To make this happen, partners involved in the project, such as the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI), will collaborate with other key stakeholders from the governmental, municipal, and private sectors.

READ MORE: How Norway’s permanent residence rules have been tweaked

As the UDI explains in a document seen by The Local, a digital wallet refers to “an electronic application or platform that allows users to securely store, manage, and share digital identity credentials and other types of digital data,” which plays a “central role in handling digital evidence or verifiable credentials in a digital ecosystem.”

The wallet allows relevant authorities to access the holder’s paperwork, rather than having documents and credentials stored separately across several portals. 

New goals

The main aim for 2024 is to develop and explore an efficient and user-friendly process flow that can support the immigration of skilled workers to Norway.

According to a document that the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) shared with The Local, other goals for the year include creating a prototype to test the efficacy of the digital wallet in improving immigration processes, investigating the feasibility of pre-qualifying employers to speed up the immigration process, and showcasing how collaboration across sectors can create better services for users.

The project remains committed to reducing administrative burdens, processing times, and information exchange accuracy, as well as preparing Norway for future challenges related to global mobility and digitalisation.

Meanwhile, the Oslo Business Region writes on its website that additional target groups such as students and family members of work permit applicants would be included in the fast track residence permit scheme. 

From the information available at the time of writing, it seems that project will still revolve around Oslo.

Gustav Try, an advisor at the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI), told The Local that the UDI’s Department of Managed Migration is currently working on a new test phase called “Pilot 2.0”.

“We are currently working on Pilot 2.0, but it is not finalised. The plan is to pilot it on selected students at the University of Oslo (UiO) in August. We are also considering piloting it on skilled workers, including UiO employees, throughout the autumn,” the department said.

Back in September, Thea Ullhaug Pope, senior content developer for the City of Oslo, told The Local that one of the long-term ambitions of the project is to try and get the scheme adopted by other regions and then nationally.

However, while the Competence Track project continues to progress, it seems unlikely that the initial ambition of reducing work permit waiting times from nine months to three days will be achieved on a mass scale anytime soon.

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