ACCUSED: The police believe Mats Wibe-Lund (44) tried to kill three men at IKEA on Furuset in Oslo in February this year. Photo: PRIVAT/FREDRIK SOLSTAD
Here, Mats Wibe-Lund (44) fired one shot into a snowdrift – to test his automatic weapon. Then he went to IKEA – and fired several shots.
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Now the 44-year-old man is charged with having tried to kill three men in the car park outside IKEA on Furuset in Oslo – during opening hours.
He denies criminal guilt.
In the past, Mats Wibe-Lund has been convicted for, among other things, violence, complicity in robbery, complicity in attempted drug importation, breach of the Weapons Act and theft.
The last time he sat on the dock in 2022, Wibe-Lund, on the other hand, claimed that he had behaved. The judges believed him.
But why did the convicted family man bring an automatic weapon to a meeting at IKEA?
What kind of conflict was he involved in?
And what caused him to fire more shots?
In an article recently published in DN Wibe-Lund himself has told how he has acted as a “broker” in the financial world’s gray market. That he has been hired to resolve “stuck conflicts” on behalf of clients.
VG can now provide an insight into the IKEA shooter’s version of the winter days in February this year, which ended with him trying to resolve his own conflict and thus once again having the police spotlight on him.
Automatic rifle, 60 rounds and bulletproof vest
Tuesday 21 February this year: At around 19.40 this winter evening, a freshly washed Mercedes Geländewagen rolled into a car park at Ulvensplitten in Oslo.
Behind the wheel of the luxury car sat Mats Wibe-Lund. In the luggage compartment was an automatic rifle in a hockey bag – as well as a double magazine with a total of 60 rounds, according to VG’s information.
Wibe-Lund is said to have had the automatic rifle, but without a weapons licence. In police questioning, he has described himself as a gunman, who has shot a lot since he was a youth, VG is informed.
After the automatic rifle was test-fired in the snowdrift at Ulven, Wibe-Lund put on a bulletproof vest and gloves – before driving on for a few kilometers to an agreed meeting at IKEA.
In the furniture giant’s premises, a hundred or so customers walked around and shopped. Outside, adults and children moved between parked cars in the parking lot.
In a black Tesla, three men sat and waited. At least one of them had met Wibe-Lund a few days before – after a birthday party.
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Children’s birthday
Three days before the shooting incident at IKEA, a children’s birthday party was organized in the villa where Wibe-Lund lives on Nordstrand in Oslo. A couple of hours after most of the guests had left, there was a knock on the door.
It was around 9 p.m. Wibe-Lund is said to have looked out the kitchen window – and saw a person in the darkness outside. A car was parked at the entrance to the property.
Wibe-Lund went out.
There he met a Norwegian-Pakistani man without a covered face – and three other people with covered faces, according to VG’s information.
The Norwegian-Pakistani man is said to have made a claim:
He wanted a settlement for an allegedly fake Rolex watch, which he accused Wibe-Lund of having sold to a known criminal in Oslo, VG is informed.
The convicted 44-year-old has rejected the accusation. In police questioning, Wibe-Lund explained that the watch in question had been given away – not sold, according to VG’s information.
The 44-year-old has also explained that he experienced the situation outside the house as threatening and that he wanted to avoid the men in the driveway entering the home, since the family was at home.
– Our opinion is that this is not really a conflict about a watch, but that it is something that has been claimed from the beginning by the other side. It is our opinion that this is not the case, there are completely different things behind it, says Wibe-Lund’s defender Øystein Storrvik to VG.
During the meeting, Wibe-Lund is said to have obtained the mobile number of the Norwegian-Pakistani man. The number should have been saved as “the torpedo of NN (the known criminal in Oslo)».
The two agreed to meet later, VG is informed.
The weapons depot
Two days before the IKEA shooting, Mats Wibe-Lund is said to have tried to get in touch with the Norwegian-Pakistani man with the watch claim. But without success, according to VG’s information.
In police questioning, the 44-year-old explained that he was in no hurry to arrange a meeting, partly because he did not know what to do.
In these days, Wibe-Lund is said to have, among other things, consulted with two comrades in their 40s whom he has known for a number of years. Both of these men have previous convictions, but have no role in this case.
The day before the IKEA shooting, Mats Wibe-Lund is said to have collected the automatic weapon from a friend, who kept the weapon for him.
In police questioning, Wibe-Lund did not want to name this comrade, so as not to implicate him, VG is informed. The assault rifle is said to have been placed in a hockey bag and occasionally stored in the back of Wibe-Lund’s luxury car.
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The police thought it was urgent, and secured the man’s money in the account. But the court said no.
In police questioning, the 44-year-old explained that he chose the automatic weapon because of safety and that he had more control over the rifle than the pistol. In addition, Wibe-Lund explained that the automatic weapon was more accurate than a pistol – and better suited to scare, VG is informed.
In police questioning, Wibe-Lund explained that he had ammunition at home and filled the magazines there. In addition, the 44-year-old has explained that he wanted to bring the weapon to IKEA because he did not know what would meet him there – and that he wanted to use the weapon to scare and protect himself, according to VG’s information.
In the time before the IKEA meeting, Wibe-Lund is said to have also considered various scenarios that could confront him, including kidnapping, robbery and violence.
The shots at IKEA
Just before 8.30pm, on Tuesday 21 February, Mats Wibe-Lund drove into the car park outside IKEA on Furuset. The automatic weapon was a test shot and he was to meet the man with the bell requirement.
In police questioning, Wibe-Lund explained that three men came towards him when he got out of the car. He is said to have perceived the men as aggressive and therefore fired a shot in the air to scare, VG is informed.
The 44-year-old has also explained that he was afraid that the men had weapons, since he should not have seen their hands.
DENIES GUILTY: Mats Wibe-Lund (44) denies that he tried to kill three men at IKEA, but claims that he shot to scare. Photo: PRIVATE
Ricochet
All three men from the Tesla have the status of offended after the shooting incident. One of them has explained to the police that Wibe-Lund aimed the automatic rifle at him and said “I’m going to kill you” – after the first shot was fired in the air, VG is informed.
– He disputes this claim in the most definite way, his defender tells VG.
Instead, he claims that he asked the men to leave him and his family alone – and that he went to the IKEA meeting to avoid another home visit.
The surveillance video from IKEA shows that the three men sought refuge behind the black Tesla after the first shot.
However, Wibe-Lund was not finished.
He walked towards the car and first fired a shot at the front front tire, then a shot at the rear tire. Finally, he fired one more shot at the rear deck, according to himself.
In police questioning, the 44-year-old explained that he thought the Norwegian-Pakistani man with the watch collar had been hit by a ricochet, VG is informed.
Wibe-Lund claims to the police that he never aimed directly at any of the three men – and that a ricochet must therefore have been the reason why the man with the bell collar was wounded in the leg.
Vidar Lind Iversen is the defense lawyer for the offended man who was hit by a ricochet. He does not wish to comment on the matter.
THE SCENE: The police investigated the scene after the shooting – in the car park between IKEA and the Furuset stadium. Photo: FRODE HANSEN
The escape
After the four shots in the parking lot at IKEA, Wibe-Lund left the scene in the luxury car. In questioning, he has explained that he drove around, aimlessly and without meaning, while at the same time calling several people.
According to VG’s information, he called, among other things, his wife, his lawyer, Øystein Storrvik, a colleague and the Norwegian-Pakistani man who was wounded after the shooting incident.
In the conversation with the gunshot-wounded man, Wibe-Lund wanted to know if he was doing well, while in the conversation with the lawyer they must have agreed that he should report to the police, VG is informed.
He didn’t manage to do that.
At Årnes in Viken, the IKEA shooter had already been tracked down by the police. Wibe-Lund was arrested there. Weapons, ammunition and the bulletproof vest were seized.
Lawyer Christian Flemmen Johansen is assisting the other victim in the case.
– When you show up at IKEA with an automatic weapon and a shooter, there is little doubt that it is perceived as an attempted murder. This is also the reason why the police have chosen to pursue the case by taking out the accused, which we believe is absolutely right. My client experienced the incident as brutal, but managed to pull himself together in a good way and made it to safety. We look forward to the legal proceedings and will ensure that the case is well informed, says the legal aid lawyer to VG.
DEFENDER: Lawyer Øystein Storrvik represents Mats Wibe-Lund (44). Photo: TORE KRISTIANSEN
Pointing to subject
Wibe-Lund is charged with having tried to kill the three men in the car park outside IKEA. In addition, the 44-year-old is charged with illegal acquisition of weapons and illegal possession of weapons in a public place.
Last autumn, Wibe-Lund was sentenced to five months in prison for negligent embezzlement of NOK 1.5 million. In the same case, he was acquitted of laundering NOK 850,000 – money that had been transferred to the well-known criminal in Oslo.
Wibe-Lund explained the money transfers with the purchase and sale of watches, an explanation the known criminal also supported, according to the verdict.
In a couple of weeks, this case will be heard again in the Borgarting Court of Appeal.
Lawyer Sugin Varatharajan is the legal counsel for one of the victims.
– My client does not have anything unsettled with the defendant or with anyone else. He was there by chance and is looking forward to putting the matter behind him.
– Did your client experience the shooting as an attempted murder?
– He experienced being shot at with an automatic rifle. He does not know what the defendant’s intention was, replies the defense attorney.
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The convicted man in his 40s admits to having shot – but not to attempted murder.
Wibe-Lund denies criminal guilt in the Heleri case, but in police questioning he has drawn lines between it and the IKEA shooting, VG is informed.
There, the 44-year-old father of the family explained that there was a row after he explained about other people in the Heleri case, including threats and fictitious money demands against him, VG is informed.
In addition, Wibe-Lund has explained that he had to take the brunt of the money transfers that were made via his account.
– We have a judgment from the Oslo district court where we did not succeed in presenting the evidence. It is in the judgment that the district court considered that the money transfers could not be linked to anything punishable, says police attorney Helge Vigerust in the Oslo police district to VG.
The police attorney emphasizes that he is only commenting on the Heleri case.
– We have registered that there has been an episode at IKEA and that the press has written about it, so it will be up to Wibe-Lund whether the explanation he gave in the district court is correct or whether he sees it in a different way now, says Vigerust .
Found money counting machine
After the arrest, the police entered the family man’s villa in Oslo.
The police found several financial documents there, such as handwritten promissory notes, private money loans, debt collection notices in the millions and the purchase and sale of various items. In addition, the police found a money counting machine, ammunition, magazines and at least one sealed weapon, VG is informed.
In the indictment, it appears that the prosecution has requested the confiscation of a sealed Colt-45, cartridges in caliber 45, boxes of ammunition, a magazine with cartridges, empty magazines, a knife, an AK-47 magazine and a brown bag with magazines.
State Attorney Tonje Tønder at the Oslo State Prosecutor’s Office does not want to comment on the case before it is heard in Oslo District Court in October.
Published:
Published: 24.09.23 at 21:24
Updated: 24.09.23 at 21:48
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2023-09-24 19:24:49
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