Oslo Shooting

Oslo shootings: Norwegians take to streets as eyewitness describes 'running and screaming'
950 views Jun 26, 2022
A man who was at the scene of a deadly shooting in Oslo in the early hours of Saturday has described seeing people 'running and screaming.' The attack took place on the eve of the city's Pride event. The march was called off on Saturday following the deadly overnight shootings at three locations including at a gay bar in the Norwegian capital.

"All events linked to Oslo Pride have been cancelled" following "clear" recommendations from police, the organisers of the march wrote on Facebook, as the Norwegian security service raised its terror alert to the highest level.



A 42-year-old man has been arrested and charged with murder, attempted murder and terrorist acts after a shooting in the centre of Norway's capital, Oslo.

Two people were killed and 21 injured in the attack on a busy nightlife district early on Saturday.

Police said they consider the attack an act of extreme Islamist terrorism.

The victims were shot in and outside the London Pub, a popular LGBTQ+ venue, and near the Herr Nilsen jazz club and another pub.

Oslo's annual gay Pride parade was due to be held on Saturday, and was formally cancelled on police advice.

But despite that, hundreds of people marched near the scene later in the day, shouting: "We're here, we're queer, we won't disappear!"

"I think it's fantastic that this march is taking place, otherwise he would have won," one woman in her 50s told AFP news agency.

Rainbow flags and flowers were laid near the scene of the attack, which was sealed off by police tape, and bystanders comforted each other with hugs.



The suspect had been known to the security services since 2015, as a "suspected radicalised Islamist", and had a history of mental illness, Norway's PST intelligence service said.

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

Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere called it a "terrible and deeply shocking attack on innocent people".

"To all the homosexuals who now are afraid and are in mourning, I say we are all with you," he said on Facebook.