Norway bow and arrow alleged terrorist identified as Muslim convert Espen Andersen Brathen

The alleged bow and arrow terrorist who killed five people in the town of Kongsberg has been identified as Muslim convert Espen Andersen Bråthen.

The Danish suspect has been identified as 37-year-old Espen Andersen Bråthen.

Espen Andersen Bråthen was arrested on Wednesday in Kongsberg, around 42 miles from Oslo.

Espen Andersen Bråthen posted a video on his Facebook, speaking in English: “Hello. I’m a messenger. I come with a warning. Is this really what you want? And for all who want to make up for themselves, so it’s time. Bear witness that I am a Muslim.”

The Facebook video was was flagged to police in 2017 according to Norwegian media.

Norway’s domestic security agency, known by its acronym PST, cited various aspects of the attack, that also wounded two people, in explaining its belief that the suspect’s actions “currently appear to be an act of terrorism”.

“Attacks on random people in public places are a recurring modus operandi among extremist Islamists carrying out terror in the West,” the domestic security agency said.

The agency said that “the most probable scenario of an extremely Islamist terrorist attack in Norway is an attack carried out by one or a few perpetrators with simple weapon types, against targets with few or no security measures”.

It added that the suspect “is known to PST from before, without PST being able to provide further details about him”.

“The investigation will clarify in more detail what the incidents were motivated by,” the PST said in a statement.

Police have announced that the suspect, Espen Andersen Bråthen, was a “convert to Islam” who had been “radicalised”.

Source: GB News