Norway attack: Killer held in medical custody amid mental health investigation

A bow-and-arrow attack that killed five people in Norway this week is likely to have been due to the killer’s mental illness, police say.

Espen Andersen Brathen has admitted going on a killing spree in the small town of Kongsberg on Wednesday.

It was the worst attack in Norway since far-right extremist Anders Breivik massacred 77 people a decade ago.

The suspect, a Danish Muslim convert, is now in custody in a medical facility pending a psychiatric evaluation.

“The strongest hypothesis after the first days of the investigation is that illness is in the background,” said police inspector Per Thomas Omholt.

However, police are investigating a range of motives including “anger, revenge, impulse, jihad, illness, and provocation”, Mr. Omholt said.

He added that Brathen had admitted to the killings but did not admit guilt.