Oslo Bombing: Anders Behring Breivik, Norwegian Suspect, Bought 6 Tons Of FertilizerAP / The Huffington Post First Posted: 7/23/11 12:07 PM ET Updated: 7/23/11 06:01 PM ET
SUNDVOLLEN, Norway -- The Norwegian man suspected in a bombing and shooting spree that killed at least 92 people bought six tons of fertilizer before the massacre, the supplier said Saturday as police investigated witness accounts of a second shooter.
Norway's royal family and prime minister led the nation in mourning, visiting grieving relatives of the scores of youth gunned down at an island retreat, as the shell-shocked Nordic nation was gripped by reports that the gunman may not have acted alone.
Downtown Oslo was a sea of roadblocks Saturday, with groups of people peering over the barricades wherever they sprang up. But evacuations of an area of the city just blocks from the bombing site Saturday evening were quickly halted.
The shooting spree began just hours after a massive explosion that ripped through an Oslo high-rise building housing the prime minister's office. At least 92 people have been killed, but police say more are missing.
The suspect in custody was identified by Norway's national broadcaster as Anders Behring Breivik, 32; police would not confirm his identity because he has not been formally charged.
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Today 7:10 PM Anders Behring Breivik Says His Attacks Were 'Necessary,' According To His Lawyer
Reuters reports:
The man suspected of a gun and bomb attack in Norway has called his deeds atrocious yet necessary, his defense lawyer said on Saturday.
"He has said that he believed the actions were atrocious, but that in his head they were necessary," defense lawyer Geir Lippestad told TV2 news.
Lippestad said his client had said he was willing to explain himself in a court hearing on Monday.
Today 6:51 PM Report: Anders Behring Breivik Admits To Attacks
From the Wall Street Journal:
Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian man charged in the bombing and shootings in Norway's capital and a nearby island Friday that left at least 92 people dead, has admitted to the crimes, his lawyer told Norwegian radio late Saturday.
Gier Lippestad, Mr. Breivik's lawyer, told Norwegian public radio NRK that Mr. Breivik admits to having killed 92 people on Friday and has told police of the circumstances.
Today 4:36 PM Photo Of Alleged Shooter Holding Gun
Here is a photo from a now deleted YouTube video possibly uploaded by alleged shooter Anders Breivik in which he's pictured with an automatic weapon.
Today 3:49 PM The Gunman's Manifesto
Norwegian journalist Ketil Stensrud has posted a link on his Twitter account where people can download the gunman's manifesto, in which, Stensrub tweets "he gives detailed account of planned attack."
Today 3:38 PM Mourners Leave Flowers
Candles and flowers left to mourn the victims are placed near the site of the Oslo bombing.
Today 3:00 PM Pope's Reaction
Pope Benedict expressed sympathy Saturday for the victims and urged Norwegians to resist hatred and conflict.
Today 2:41 PM Bomb was 'some kind of Oklahoma City-type'
A police official tells the AP that the bomb used in the attack was "some kind of Oklahoma City-type" device made of fertilizer and diesel fuel.
Today 2:20 PM 10-Year-Old Boy: "Now you've killed my dad. Let us alone. "
The Telegraph finds this heartbreaking account.
Today 2:14 PM King Herald V On The Attacks
Norway's King Herald on the attacks: "I remain convinced that the belief in freedom is stronger than fear."
Today 1:46 PM Police Will Not Raise Threat Level
Al Jazeera reports: Norwegian police have not recommended raising the terrorism threat level.
Today 1:43 PM Another Chilling Eyewitness Account
This one comes via Reuters
Today 1:33 PM Death Toll May Rise
Reuters reports the death toll may rise "up to 98."
Today 1:06 PM Police Charge Suspect
Al Jazeera reports that police have charged 32-year-old Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik with killing 92 people in Friday's attacks.
Today 12:19 PM Shooting Went On For 1 Hour 35 Minutes Before Police Arrived
Norwegian journalist Ketil Stensrud tweets:
Norwegian police confirm that the Utøya gunman were massacring people for 1 hour and 35 minutes before special forces arrived.
Today 12:10 PM Mini-submarine to be used to search for more victims
The Telegraph reports that a mini-submarine will be used to search in the waters off the island for more victims.
The paper also quotes police as saying that they believe the attacks had been planned "for a long time."
Today 11:51 AM Shooter Confession
The Telegraph reports that police say the shooting suspect
"has confessed that he's been on Utoya, that he's had access to weapons, and that he's fired rounds." He's being interrogated at Oslo Police Station, in central Oslo.
Today 11:34 AM More Than One Gunman?
The BBC reports:
Police say based on the statements from witnesses, they think there may have been more than one gunman.
Today 11:30 AM Police Arrive 45 Minutes After Shooting
Politico's Mike Allen tweets: "imagine the human terror there, and no cavalry: OSLO (AP) - Norway police say they arrived at island 45 minutes after shooting began there."
Today 11:25 AM Shooter Immediately Surrendered
@Reuters reports: Norway attacks: Police say shooting suspect immediately surrendered when told to do so.
Today 10:30 AM Alleged Gunman's Car Towed
Norwegian journalist Ketil Stensrud tweets that the alleged shooter's car, where police found undetonated explosives, is being towed.
Today 9:41 AM 92 Confirmed Dead: Reuters
Reuters reports that 92 people have been confirmed dead in the Norway attacks.
Today 8:17 AM
AP reports:
AP @ AP : BREAKING: Police in Norway detain man outside hotel where prime minister was visiting. -RAS #breakingnews
Today 6:56 AM More Reported Deaths In Oslo Bomb Attack
Reuters reports:
Reuters @ Reuters : At least 87 dead in Norway shooting, bomb attack
http://t.co/QxJFe8U07/22/2011 9:09 PM Death Toll Rises To At Least 80 In Shooting
AP reports:
AP @ AP : BREAKING: Death toll rises to at least 80 in Norway youth camp shooting, police say. -RJJ #breakingnews
07/22/2011 8:20 PM Suspect Appears To Have Acted Alone, Police Official Says
NPR reports:
A police official said the 32-year-old ethnic Norwegian suspect arrested at the camp on Utoya island appears to have acted alone in both attacks, and that "it seems like that this is not linked to any international terrorist organizations at all." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because that information had not been officially released by Norway's police.
"It seems it's not Islamic-terror related," the official said. "This seems like a madman's work."
Full story here.
07/22/2011 7:42 PM What Do We Know About Anders Behring Breivik?
The 32-year-old Norwegian man who allegedly went on a shooting spree on the island of Utoya has now been identified as Anders Behring Breivik, according to multiple reports. Here's a summary of what we have learned about Breivik so far:
Norwegian TV2 reports that Breivik belongs to "ring-wing circles" in Oslo. Swedish news site Expressen adds that he has been known to write to right-wing forums in Norway, is a self-described nationalist and has also written a number of posts critical of Islam.A Twitter account for Breivik has surfaced, though it only has one post, this quote from philosopher John Stuart Mill: "One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100 000 who have only interests." The tweet was posted on July 17.
07/22/2011 6:50 PM Media Name Accused Shooter
Sky News and the Daily Mail are both reporting the identity of the man arrested for the youth camp shooting as Anders Behring Breivik.
07/22/2011 6:00 PM A History Of Terrorism In Norway
Here's a quick primer on terrorist attacks in Norway over the past 40 years.
Between 1970 and 2010, only 15 terrorist attacks occurred in Norway, according to the Global Terrorism Database, a project of the University of Maryland that has been recording terrorist attacks since 1970. By comparison, 2,347 acts of terrorism occurred in the United States during this period.
07/22/2011 4:42 PM Police Fear Death Toll At Youth Camp Will Rise
Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg says police fear the death toll at the youth camp shooting will rise, according to the Associated Press.
Stoltenberg confirmed that the current number of people killed was nine or 10, but police "fear that there could be more."
07/22/2011 4:28 PM Undetonated Explosives Found
Reuters reports:
Reuters @ Reuters : FLASH: #Oslo police say undetonated explosives found at island where gunman fired at youths #Utoya
07/22/2011 4:23 PM Nearing Midnight In Oslo
We'll be keeping an eye out for reports and confirmations of more fatalities from both the Oslo bombings and the Utoya shooting.
We're also awaiting details about the suspect in custody with the Oslo police.
Finally, PM Jens Stoltenberg will be meeting with members of other Norwegian political parties on Saturday.
07/22/2011 4:21 PM What We Know About The Oslo Attacks
1. A bomb went off after 3:00 p.m. Oslo time (around 10:00 a.m. ET). The bomb exploded near a number of government buildings and damaged large parts of downtown Oslo. As of 11 p.m. Oslo Time (5 p.m. ET) Seven people have been confirmed killed in the explosion.
2. About two hours later a gunman dressed as a police officer opened fire on a political youth camp on the island of Utoya about an hours drive from Oslo. The camp was organized by the youth arm of the Norwegian Labour party. There were reportedly more than 500 campers on the island. Police say that around 10 teens have been killed in the incident.
3. A lone suspect was apprehended by police late on Friday on Utoya. His nationality is Norwegian. According to eyewitnesses a man dressed as a police officer was spotted in a van minutes before the explosion occured in downtown Oslo. Police say the shooter arrested on Utoya is linked to the earlier bombing.
4. Despite initial reports and speculation no radical Muslim group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. There was speculation that the attack may have been orchestrated by Muslims due to the country's involvement in Afghanistan and its prosecution of a radical Kurdish Mullah.
5. Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has said that parts of the Norwegian government will have to relocate elsewhere in Oslo due to damage to buildings but that the government will function normally.
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At least 87 people were killed on the island Friday. Another seven died in an earlier bombing in Oslo.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
SUNDVOLLEN, Norway (AP) - The Norwegian man suspected in a bombing and shooting spree that killed at least 92 people bought six tons of fertilizer before the massacre, the supplier said Saturday as police investigated witness accounts of a second shooter.
Norway's royal family and prime minister led the nation in mourning, visiting grieving relatives of the scores of youth gunned down at an island retreat, as the shell-shocked Nordic nation was gripped by reports that the gunman may not have acted alone.
Downtown Oslo was a sea of roadblocks Saturday, with groups of people peering over the barricades wherever they sprang up. But evacuations of an area of the city just blocks from the bombing site Saturday evening were quickly halted.
The shooting spree began just hours after a massive explosion that ripped through an Oslo high-rise building housing the prime minister's office. At least 92 people have been killed, but police say more are missing.
The suspect in custory was identified by Norway's national broadcaster as Anders Behring Breivik, 32; police would not confirm his identity because he has not been formally charged.
Story continues below
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Authorities say he posted on Christian fundamentalist websites and reportedly held right-wing, anti-Muslim views. He was also once a member of the youth wing of a rightist party.
The queen and the prime minister hugged when they arrived at the hotel where families are waiting to identify the bodies. Both king and queen shook hands with mourners, while the prime minister, his voice trembling, told reporters of the harrowing stories survivors had recounted to him.
A man who said he was carrying a knife was detained by police officers outside the hotel. He told reporters as he was led away that he was carrying the weapon because he didn't feel safe.
On the island of Utoya, panicked teens attending a Labour Party youth wing summer camp plunged into the water or played dead to avoid the assailant in the assault that may have lasted 30 minutes before a SWAT team arrived, police said. A picture sent out on Twitter showed a blurry figure in dark clothing pointing a gun into the water, with bodies all around him.
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said the twin attacks made Friday peacetime Norway's deadliest day.
Buildings around the capital lowered their flags to half-staff on Saturday. People streamed to Oslo Cathedral to light candles and lay flowers; outside, mourners began building a makeshift altar from dug-up cobblestones. The Army patrolled the streets of the capital, a highly unusual sight for this normally placid country.
"This is beyond comprehension. It's a nightmare. It's a nightmare for those who have been killed, for their mothers and fathers, family and friends," Stoltenberg told reporters earlier Saturday.
Information about the man in custody began to trickle out Saturday, including that he owned a farm and had amassed six tons of fertilizer in the weeks before the twin attacks. Fertilizer is highly explosive and can be used in homemade bombs. Police searched both the farm and his apartment in Oslo overnight.
Oddny Estenstad, a spokeswoman for agricultural material supplier Felleskjopet, said Saturday that the company alerted police to the purchase after the man emerged as a suspect.
While his motive was unclear, there were links to political activity. Mazyar Keshvari, a spokesman for Norway's rightist populist Progress Party - which is conservative but within the political mainstream - said that the suspect was a paying member of the party's youth wing from 1999 to 2004.
That quantity of fertilizer - akin to 200 50-pound bags of grain - wouldn't have fit in one car, according to Bob Ayers, former U.S. intelligence official. Two burned-out cars could be see at the scene Friday, but police have not confirmed whether they were used in the attack.
Though police have not confirmed the suspect's identity, a picture of the blonde-haired, blue-eyed man floated around the Internet. The father of three children who survived the attack said the man in the picture was the assailant.
Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told reporters that the attacks, believed to be the work of a man who has posted on Christian fundamentalist websites, showed you can't jump to conclusions about terror acts. He said most of the political violence that Norway has seen has come from the extreme right.
"This is a phenomenon that we have to address very seriously," Stoere said.
The Army patrols were an indication of the stepped up vigilance, although police lifted their recommendation, issued after the bombing, that people stay away from the city center.
Gun violence is rare in Norway, where the average policeman patrolling in the streets doesn't carry a firearm. Reports that the assailant was motivated by political ideology was shocking to many Norwegians, who pride themselves on the openness of their society. Indeed, Norway is almost synonymous with the kind of free expression being exercised by the youth at the political retreat.