An Iranian immigrant in Norway opened fire on a popular London pub gay nightclub in Oslo around 1am on Saturday, killing two and injuring 21, according to police. The alleged gunman, Zaniar Matapur, 42, who was known for state security, was arrested within minutes and has since been charged with terrorism. Eight of the injured have been admitted to hospitals. Police say Matapur opened fire at three places. Saturday’s Gay Pride parade in Oslo has been canceled.
Excerpt from the CNN report:
Oslo’s annual pride parade was canceled on Saturday after a deadly shooting at a gay bar that Norwegian police are investigating as a possible terrorist attack.
Two people were killed and eight others were taken to hospital after a shooting near a London pub, which describes itself on its website as “the biggest gay and lesbian place in Oslo”.
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Police received several calls about the shooting at 1:14 a.m. local time, and arrived at the scene a few minutes later. Police said they caught the male suspect three minutes after his arrival.
Prosecutor Christian Hatlow told reporters in Oslo on Saturday that the suspect, charged with terrorism, is a Norwegian national who is of Iranian origin, and was “known to the police” but has so far only received “minor” charges. Punishments “have been received.
When police arrived, there were injured people on the ground inside and outside the bar. “The scene was chaotic, it was a warm evening and there were a lot of people outside, so people were running everywhere,” police told CNN.
Three of the eight people admitted to the hospital are in critical condition. Another 14 victims suffered minor injuries.
The Norwegian police security service said the alleged gunman knew them. (By translation.)
“The PST has been notified of the shooting in Oslo on Saturday night. The arrested person has been in PST for the last time. We are now contributing all the relevant information we have to the Oslo PD, and working to clarify whether further acts of violence can be planned. We have no indication of this at the moment. ”
PST is oriented towards skyting and Oslo natt til lørdag.
This article is about PST from Tidligere. The bidder is not with all the relevant informations even if he is in Oslo PD, and the job seeker wants to know if he or she is planning to go ahead with the voldshandlinger. Foreløpig has an indicator on it.– PST (STPSTnorge) June 25, 2022
Last week, the state security service reduced the threat of Islamic terrorism, “an update on the terrorist threat against Norway. The threat from radical Islamists is considered somewhat less.
Updating the Territorial Cell Mott Norg. Trusselen fra ekstreme islamister vurderes som noe redusert https://t.co/pe45thfojv
– PST (STPSTnorge) June 16, 2022
AP reports that Norway has since raised the terror alert (Ankara):
A gunman opened fire early Saturday in Oslo’s nightlife district, killing two people and wounding more than 20, in what the Norwegian security service called an “Islamist terrorist act” during the capital’s annual LGBTQ Pride festival.
Investigators say the suspect, identified as a 42-year-old Norwegian national originally from Iran, was arrested after firing at three locations in downtown Oslo – inside and outside a London pub, in Oslo. In the long-standing hub of the LGBTQ view. In the surrounding streets, and in another bar in the city center.
Two men were killed in the shooting, one in his 50s and the other in his 60s, police said. Ten people were treated for serious injuries, but none of them were fatal. Eleven others suffered minor injuries.
The Norwegian Police Security Service raised its terror alert level from “moderate” to “extraordinary” after the attack, sending frightened pilgrims to flee the streets or try to hide from gunmen.
The service’s executive director, Roger Berg, called the attack an “act of extreme Islamic terrorism” and said the suspect had a “long history of violence and intimidation” as well as mental health problems.
ਵ Olav Rਨੇneberg, a journalist with the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, said he saw the shooting.
“I saw a man carrying a bag to the site. He picked up a weapon and started firing, “Roenberg told NRK. “At first I thought it was an air gun. Then the front door bar shattered, and I realized I had to run for cover.
The gunman is said to be an Iranian Kurd, “Kurdish Norwegian Zaniyar Matapur, 42, has now been charged with terrorism. The Police Security Service (PST) considers the shooting in Oslo an Islamic terrorist attack.”
Kurdish-Norwegian Zaniar Matapur, 42, is now charged with terrorism. The Police Security Service (PST) considers the shooting in Oslo an Islamic terrorist attack.#TwitterKurds # Oslopride 2022 # Norway pic.twitter.com/kfCJv7IpRJ
– 𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢 (rizMArizanti) June 25, 2022
Norwegian news site VG (excerpt by translation):
Two were killed and at least 21 were injured in what became known as the Hjørnet shootings in Oslo and outside London.
The 42-year-old man who was arrested has previously been charged with aggravated assault and possession of drugs.
Other serious cases, including attempted murder from the accused, have also been investigated but these cases have been avoided.
“Criminals have a long history of violence and intimidation,” acting PST chief Roger Berg told a news conference Saturday afternoon.
The PST chief was aware of the criminal in 2015, with concerns that he was then radicalized and part of a highly Islamic contact network in Norway, the PST chief said.
He did not want to say what kind of network it was, but the PST chief told VG that the man was “sympathetic to ISIL”. As such, it is a terrorist group also known as IS, which has operated in other places, including Syria and Iraq.
The man comes from the Kurdish part of Iran, and came to Norway with his family as a refugee when he was a child. He is a citizen of Norway and lives in Oslo.
– The PST manager tells VG that he has been behaving too much.
Was in talks in May
The PST says that in May of this year, they spoke to the defendant about “the fact that he was interested in signs and statements that are considered a violation of Islam.”– It was not assumed in the conversation that the perpetrator intended violence, but the PST is aware that the perpetrator had mental health challenges, the PST chief said.
– We didn’t consider him one of the things we cared about the most, in other words we weren’t close to the solutions around him, the VG calls the PST Manager.
He says he assesses before big events like Pride and May 17.
“We did not have any indications before yesterday that we should be particularly concerned about that,” the PST chief said.
… In July 2019, Matapore was arrested on charges of attempted murder, possession of an illegal weapon and possession of a knife in a public place.
Matapur was released a few days later against the wishes of the prosecution. The prosecution believed that the man had a history of giving good reason for suspicion, and previous cases showed that he had access to weapons. According to a Borgarting Court of Appeals decision, he was released because the court did not find a valid basis for suspicion.
… Police believe he used an old weapon when he shot and killed two people in central Oslo.
– This is not a modern weapon. I don’t know the details, and with the risk of making a mistake, the feedback was that it was completely automatic, police say, and at the same time they insist they don’t know if the weapon is fully automatic. Was used as, or if a shot was fired.
Excerpt: Please read the full VG News article at this link.
Six years ago, on June 12, 2016, Omar Matin, an Islamic militant who had pledged allegiance to ISIS, attacked the Pulse Gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people and wounding 58 others.