Oslo shooting: Police treating bar killings as terrorist attack

Two people have been shot dead and 21 injured in a shooting at a nightclub and nearby streets in the centre of the Norwegian capital, Oslo, police say.

The shootings are being investigated as a terrorist act.

There was gunfire at about 01:00 local time (23:00 GMT) in three locations including a gay bar. A suspect has been arrested and two weapons seized.

Shots were fired at the London Pub, a popular gay bar, as well as near the Herr Nilsen jazz club and a takeaway.

Organisers said Oslo has called off its annual Pride parade, which was due to be held on Saturday, following the shootings.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere called it a “terrible and deeply shocking attack on innocent people”.

“I saw a man arrive with a bag, he picked up a gun and started to shoot,” journalist Olav Roenneberg of public broadcaster NRK said.

One witness in the London Pub told NRK that he had been hit by flying glass.

“I was in the outer bar in London when it happened. I just noticed that a shot was fired, and I was hit by a shard of glass. There were more and more and more shots, so I escaped into the inner bar and tried to get as many as possible with me,” he said.

“At first people did not understand what was happening, but then there was panic.”

A woman told the Verdens Gang newspaper that the gunman had taken careful aim at his targets. “When I understood that it was serious, I ran. There was a man covered in blood motionless on the floor,” she said.

Another man told the newspaper he had seen a lot of people on the ground with head wounds.

Norway’s Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl said the incident had shaken the country.

“Norway is a community of trust where everyone should feel safe outside on a Saturday night,” she said, according to NRK.