Jul 23, 2011, 1:41 PM

84 dead in Norway shooting, attacker is right-wing Christian

A suspected right-wing Christian gunman in police uniform killed at least 84 people in a shocking attack on a youth camp of Norway's ruling Labor party.

The shooting happened hours after a bomb killed seven in Oslo, Reuters reported.

The shooting spree has shocked Norway, a quiet nation of 4.8 million people.

Witnesses said the gunman, identified by police as a 32-year-old Norwegian, moved across the small, wooded Utoeya holiday island on Friday firing at random as young people scattered in fear.

Police detained the tall, blond suspect, named by local media as Anders Behring Breivik, and charged him for the island killing spree and the Oslo bomb blast.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said: "A paradise island has been transformed into a hell."

Deputy Police Chief Roger Andresen would not speculate on the man's motives but told a news conference: "He describes himself as a Christian, leaning toward right-wing Christianity, on his Facebook page."

Teenagers at the lakeside camp fled screaming in panic, many leaping into the water to save themselves, when the assailant began spraying them with gunfire, witnesses said.

PA/PA
END
MNA

News ID 47065

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