Norway bow-and-arrow attack suspect's 'mental illness' triggered rampage: Police

The man suspected of killing five people in Norway with a bow and arrows and other weapons has been transferred to the public health service, the Norwegian public broadcaster, NRK reported, citing a statement by the prosecutors. “Based on an initial assessment of his health condition, this was the best solution,” Norway prosecutor Ann Iren Svane Mathiassen was quoted as saying by the state agency. The Norwegian police issued a statement on Friday, saying: "Due to the health condition of the person charged, he has been committed to a high-security psychiatric ward during his remand period. He will also undergo a full forensic psychiatric examination to determine whether or not he was accountable for his actions."

Danish citizen Espen Andersen Braathen, the 37-year-old suspect, was a Muslim convert and was sent to avail the psychiatric help on Friday. He was earlier apprehended for petty crimes and was flagged by the police for suspected radicalization. He was earlier arrested for robbery and drugs offenses. His relative meanwhile dismissed the reports of his radicalization as “irrelevant.”

“The hypothesis that has been strengthened the most in the early days of the investigation is that the background to this attack is illness,” a police inspector, Per Thomas Omholt, told NRK reporters on Friday.

Assistant Chief of Police Per Thomas Omholt told a press conference in Kongsberg earlier Friday, "This is a very serious case for [the] local community and the country. We will find out what has happened."  

"We are working with many hypotheses [regarding the motive], but the main one at the moment is health-related," he added. "The hypothesis around jihad has not been strengthened in the same way as the health hypothesis."

A Norway court-ordered Braathen to remain for four weeks in a medical facility for psychiatric evaluation. Norwegian security service PST was reported saying that the attack “appears to be an act of terror.” Although, the PST stated that a full investigation is needed to be carried out to establish Braathen’s motive for the killings.  Head of Norway’s PST, Hans Sverre Sjovold, meanwhile told the NRK that the suspect confessed to the crime and has been cooperating with the investigation. “He has been in and out of the health system for some time, we have to spend some time on that history here, and it’s important the investigation gets it straight,” NRK reported Hans Sverre Sjovold as saying. 

Danish citizen 'acted alone' says police 

Espen Andersen Bråthen has armed with a bow and arrows with which he attacked the shoppers in a small Norwegian town, Kongsberg. He killed five people before he was arrested by the police. Norway Police has said that it is treating the deadly archery attack as a ‘terrorist act’ which is also believed to be the worst since Anders Behring Breivik went on a killing spree in 2011 leaving 77 dead. The Norwegian Police Security Service said that even though it is treating the incident as a terror attack, it does not change the national threat picture. The victims of the terrorist attack were all aged between 50 and 70 and the police believe that the man acted alone.