– The police had him first, and then they lost him. Neighbors in Kongsberg wonder why it took 34 minutes to stop the perpetrator with a knife and bow.
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– It’s horrible. He’s just walking around killing random people. Here in our streets, says Gudoon Hersi.
– The police had him first, and then they lost him. It is frightening to think that he was not taken until 18.47.
She and her friend Silje Limstrand were on their way through the old town when they went straight into the police hunt for the perpetrator.
– We and others walked around here while he was at large. It’s very disgusting to think about.
Between the beautiful and pleasant wooden houses in the idyllic old town of Kongsberg, five people were killed and two seriously injured in what the police are now investigating as a possible terrorist act.
–34 cruel minutes in the old town
1.1 kilometers away in the police station in Kongsberg, the police received the first desperate messages from eyewitnesses at 18.13, who told that a person shot at people with a bow and arrow in the old town.
Exactly when the police arrived at the scene is still uncertain.
The 37-year-old perpetrator is a Danish citizen living in Kongsberg.
In the Coop Extra store and post office at Nytorget, people ran for their lives to get away. It is in this area that the police must first have been in the process of arresting the man. But the perpetrator escaped.
People who were out in the street ran into shops and houses to seek refuge.
Doors were locked to prevent anyone from entering.
At the intersection of Myntgata and Peckels gate, a small trace of the dramatic minutes can be seen, in the form of a long, black arrow that has drilled into the wall at the front door of the security company Vekter og alarmservice.
At 18.47, the perpetrator was arrested.
One of the injured is a police officer, who was in the store in his spare time when the attack took place.
–– At first I thought this is not something serious. This is Kongsberg.
The two friends Gudoon Hersi and Silje Limstrand had no idea what awaited them when they walked out of their house a block away from Nytorget in the old town of Kongsberg at 6.30 pm.
They had planned to go to the center to shop, but postponed the trip for ten minutes.
They also had a package to pick up at the post office.
– The first thing we saw were two police cars and blue lights, says Gudoon Hersi about what met them on Nytorget in front of the Coop store.
– At first I thought this is not something serious. This is Kongsberg, says Silje Limstrand (22).
Then the helicopter came hovering, and more and more police cars arrived. There were flashing lights everywhere and loud noises. Then we quickly realized that something happened, says Limstrand.
– We are in the old town in tiny little Kongsberg. There is never anything that happens here. Here, there are only tiny nice cafes, cozy shops, and people who are out for a walk, says Gudoon Hersi. She was born and raised in Kongsberg, and works at Vestsiden ungdomsskole.
Several other neighbors that Aftenposten talks about ask the same question.
How could the attack last so long?
Everyone knows that it hardly takes a couple of minutes to drive from the police station in Kongsberg to Myntgaten. On the other hand, blood traces and the finds of victims show in several different places that the perpetrator moved quickly.
–Searched for victims over a large area
Throughout the evening and night, police investigators worked to get an overview of the area in which the drama took place.
Otherwise, the streets were almost deserted.
From some windows, some neighbors stuck their heads out to catch a glimpse of what was happening in the neighborhood.
Only a few dared to take a trip out. They have been strictly instructed by the police to abstain.
Police investigations show that the killed and injured were attacked in several places, and that there are a number of different crime scenes.
The forensic technicians conducted investigations both in Hyttegata on the west side of the old town, in Myntgata in the heart of the Old Town, and in Peckels gate. Several properties within the police barricades were blocked off.
But where the investigations lasted the longest, was inside the Coop store at Nytorget, where police experts worked until after midnight to secure clues.
The attack on the perpetrator and the subsequent police chase took place in an area with many houses, streets and alleys. This may have made it difficult to get an overview of the situation.
It is still unknown when the first police patrols arrived, and whether they were armed.
–– We have sent messages to everyone who wants to know
The most important thing for many people in Kongsberg was spent much of the evening on one, only thing.
Call around and send messages, and hear if friends, family and acquaintances were safe.
– We have sent messages to everyone we know. All my students cycle around and hang out here in the evening, says Hersi.
– Now everyone is wondering who has lost their life. Is there anyone we know? Everyone knows everyone here in Kongsberg, says Limstrand.
– Then we think of the perpetrator. Does he live here in Kongsberg? Has anyone we met?
The two friends wonder if anything can be the same as before in the old town of Kongsberg after what has happened.
– It’s scary to have gone up in the middle of what happened. Later tonight we saw on TV that we had walked around all the places where the perpetrator had been. We were too close, says Hersi.
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