A Danish man suspected of killing five people with a bow and arrows in Norway had converted to Islam and police had been in contact with him due to radicalisation fears, police said Thursday.
The 37-year-old is in police custody after the deadly attack on Wednesday evening, in the small town of Kongsberg, home to about 25,000 people 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of Oslo.
“There were fears linked to radicalisation previously,” Norwegian police official Ole Bredrup Saeverud told reporters, adding that police had followed upon him in 2020.
“We haven’t had any reports about him in 2021, but earlier,” he added.
Responding to questions Saeverud explained that the man was a “convert to Islam.”
“We are investigating, among other things, whether this was a terrorist attack,” he told reporters.
Saeverud also said investigations were still ongoing to confirm that the man was acting alone.
“We have no information indicating anything else, but we are continuing investigations to be completely sure,” he said