Oslo mosque shooting investigated as terror attack attempt: police

The police were investigating the mosque shooting near Oslo on Saturday as an attempted terrorist attack, it was announced at a press conference on Sunday.

Police attend the scene after a shooting inside the al-Noor Islamic center mosque in Baerum outside Oslo, Norway, Aug. 10, 2019. Norwegian police say one person has been shot and lightly injured during a shooting incident at a mosque in a western suburb of the capital. [Photo: IC]

"The charged person has right-wing attitudes, and expressed support for Quisling," Rune Skjold from Oslo police said.

The shooting left one person injured. The gunman was arrested and was also said to have been injured.

The attack took place on the eve of the Eid al-Adha, a Muslim festival to be observed on Sunday when thousands of Muslims gather.

The suspect, a Norwegian young man, was said to have hailed several mass shootings abroad on a web forum, public broadcaster NRK reported Sunday.

His posts were published before the mosque attack which took place in Baerum, a municipality just west of Oslo on Saturday, the report said.

According to NRK, a person with the same name as the perpetrator published online posts saying that he was "selected by Saint Tarrant", a reference to Brenton Tarrant, who was behind the attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand on March 15, 2019.

In a drawing in the post, the user also mentioned a 19-year-old who allegedly killed one person and injured three others in an attack on a synagogue in San Diego, the U.S. in April this year, as well as Patrick Crusius, who was charged with shooting 22 people in El Paso, the U.S. earlier in August.

In a post published a few hours prior to the shooting in Baerum, the user signed with "Valhall is waiting". The post was accompanied by a picture showing what looks like a camouflage jacket, a mask, and a weapon.

On Saturday night a young woman was found dead by the police when searching the perpetrator's residence in Baerum. The woman was said to be the younger sister of the arrested young man, according to NRK.

A woman, who knows the family of the accused well and lives close to the location where the dead woman was found, described the accused as a "proper boy", who sometimes helped her with practical tasks, NRK reported.

Another person, who has known the accused and his family since own childhood, told NRK that the perpetrator was "very positive" when he was younger.

At the same time, several sources said that a death of a close family member a few years back probably affected the man a lot.

In a press release from the Oslo Police District, the police stated that the accused did not want to be questioned by the police.

The defendant's online activity is a topic for the investigation, the police confirmed.