The detainee will remain for four weeks hospitalized in a medical center in a situation of total isolation before deciding on his criminal situation
The psychological background of the author of the five-person murdered in the Norwegian city of Kongsberg rules out any terrorist motivation. The investigation indicates that the bow and arrow attack carried out by Espen Andersen Bråthen was motivated by “the mental illness” suffered by the suspect, who for four weeks will be hospitalized in a medical center in a situation of total isolation, according to this Friday the country’s Police. “The most established hypothesis is that of dementia as a backdrop,” Inspector Per Thomas Omholt declared at a press conference.
At first, the conversion to Islam of the 37-year-old Danish citizen – although born in Norway – pointed “towards a fundamentalist jihad action,” he acknowledged. But the advance of the hours has raised numerous doubts about his psychiatric state. “He is a person with a long history in the health system,” added the head of the Norwegian security services (PST) Hans Sverre Sjøvold.
Apparently, the doctors who treated Andersen had warned the police of the risk of his radicalization as early as 2015. For this reason, he was on the list of “booked” people. Several local media have broadcast a video posted on Facebook and YouTube in 2017 in which he makes a profession of faith. “Hello there. I am a messenger. I come with a warning. Is this really what you want? And for everyone who wants to recover, then the time has come. I testify that I am a Muslim ”, he declared threateningly in the recording.
He had also been convicted twice. One for threatening his parents with a gun during a visit to the home where he grew up and another for theft and possession of hashish.
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