The horrifying events in Oslo and then at a youth camp have shocked Norwegians and everyone is struggling to find out who did this and why. A suspect is in custody, and while law enforcement hasn't officially indicated the name, multiple Norwegian news outlets have indicated that the suspect is Anders Behring Breivik.
While police have not officially named him, Norwegian television and newspaper reports have identified the suspect as 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik, of Norwegian origin.Police aren't sure whether he had worked alone or had help.
A picture is emerging, gleaned from official sources and social media, of a right-wing Christian fundamentalist who may have had an issue with Norway's multi-cultural society.
Norwegian and international news outlets have run photographs of a blond man with blue-green eyes and chiseled features, dressed in a preppy style.
A victim who was shot during the attack at the youth camp on Utoya island told CNN Saturday that he had seen pictures of Breivik taken from what is believed to be his Facebook page and shown on NRK and TV2. The victim said he recognized the man from the news reports as the gunman.
Breivik is a member of the Oslo Pistol Club and has three weapons registered in his name, according to leading Norwegian newspaper VG, citing Norway's official weapons register. They are a Glock pistol, a rifle and a shotgun, VG reported.
Other reports indicate that he owned and/or operates a farm, and that he had placed an order for six tons of fertilizer on May 4. That isn't out of the ordinary for a farm, but such materials can be used to make a fertilizer bomb and could inflict the kind of damage seen in Oslo. Expect police to test bomb residue to determine the composition of the bomb and whether it used the kind of fertilizer that Breivik had obtained or had access to. Reports this morning indicate that it was indeed a fertilizer bomb.
Yet, no one can quite understand what would drive this person or person to murder so many children in such a brutal fashion.
Survivors indicated that the gunmen yelled that all those teens must die:
Other survivors played dead to avoid being killed.
UPDATE:
Perhaps the scariest thing is that he doesn't appear to have done this with help - he acted alone. He managed to build and detonate a bomb, and then murder so many people on his own.
That's perhaps the worst case scenario for law enforcement the world over.
It's one thing to try and disrupt terror cells (someone can talk). But someone who has access to the materials as Breivik did (fertilizer for the bomb) and the willingness to act on whatever deranged worldview he had; and it seems that he was opposed to the Norwegian government's immigration position; and can carry out this attack on his own is a new and dangerous dimension that will make it more difficult down the road for security officials around the world.
UPDATE:
The Daily Mail is reporting that Breivik was a poster on a Swedish Nazi website.
It has emerged that the man at the centre of the attack is also a member of a Swedish Nazi forum which encourages attacks on government buildings.
The revelations were revealed by Swedish newspaper Expo who claim Anders Breivik is part of 'Nordisk' which has 22,000 members and focuses on political terrorism.
The 32-year-old who has been identified as the suspect by Norwegian media is also said to have anti-Muslim viewed.
Police are searching the blond, blue-eyed man's flat in Oslo and are still searching the surrounding waters, where people fled the attack.
It has also just been revealed that there is a new bomb alert in the capital and police have reportedly sealed off an area called Solli Plass, an area close to the royal palace.
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