A gunman went on a terrifying rampage in a gay bar and surrounding streets in Oslo on Saturday, killing two people and seriously injuring 10 on the day the city`s LGBTQ community was due to celebrate its annual Pride parade.
The victims were shot inside and outside the London Pub, a well-known gay bar and nightclub open since 1979, as well as at one other bar in the centre of the Norwegian capital.
"I saw a man arrive with a bag, he picked up a gun and started to shoot," said journalist Olav Roenneberg of public broadcaster NRK, who was in the area. "Then I saw the windows breaking and understood that I had to take cover."
A suspect, a 42-year-old Norwegian citizen of Iranian origin, was detained minutes after, according to police who said they believed he acted alone. Two weapons, including a fully automatic gun, were retrieved from the crime scene, they added.
"There is reason to think that this may be a hate crime," officers told a news conference. "We are investigating whether the Pride was a target in itself or whether there are other motives."
Oslo police spokesman Rune Hekkelstrand told Reuters the attack was also being investigated as a possible act of terrorism.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere decried the shootings as a "terrible and deeply shocking attack on innocent people".
The suspect was known to authorities, including for violence of a less severe nature, police said.
The shooting happened in the early hours of Saturday, and just months after Norway marked 50 years since the abolition of a law that criminalised gay sex. Eleven people also suffered minor injuries, police said.
Organisers of Oslo Pride cancelled Saturday`s parade, citing police advice. "We will soon be proud and visible again, but today we will mark Pride celebrations at home," they said.
Norway, a country of 5.4 million, has lower crime rates than many other Western nations, though it has experienced hate-motivated shootings, including when far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 people in 2011.
