norwegian nightmare

Far-Right Norwegian Confesses to Oslo Bombing, Youth Camp Shooting

Hundreds of mourners filled Oslo’s cathedral today for a memorial service to the 93 people killed Friday in the Oslo bombing and shooting rampage at a nearby youth camp — Norway’s Prime Minister spoke at the service, with the country’s king and queen in attendance. In another part of the capital, likely in an interrogation room, 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik confessed to police authorities that he was responsible for both attacks. He went so far as to describe his acts as “gruesome but necessary” — possibly referring to a manifesto he posted Friday “calling for a Christian war to defend Europe against the threat of Muslim domination,” as the Times characterized it. Breivik is not, however, admitting “criminal guilt,” said Oslo Police Chief Sveinung Sponheim, and says he plans to explain himself at a court hearing set for tomorrow. As for Breivik’s claim that he was the sole shooter, Sponheim told Reuters that some witness statements from Utoya island — where youths from the ruling Labor Party were having a summer camp — mention multiple gunmen. All the while, Norwegian authorities continue searching for missing bodies and doctors struggle to save victims lacerated by the specially designed bullets Breivik used, meant to disintegrate inside the body. All signs tragically point to a death toll expected to keep rising in the coming days.

Police Say Oslo Suspect Admits ‘Facts,’ Not Guilt, in Massacre [NYT]
Norway suspect Anders Behring Breivik ‘admits attacks’ [BBC]
Norway mourns victims of anti-Islam Crusader [Reuters]
Related: Far-Right Norwegian Held in Bombing and Slaughter at a Youth Camp [Updated]

Far-Right Norwegian Confesses to Oslo Bombing, Youth Camp Shooting