Three die in shooting in Asker

Idyllic Nesøya. Photo by lasse@mapaid.com

May 12 – A gunman has shot dead two women in a suburb of the Norwegian capital Oslo before killing himself after what appeared to be a domestic incident, police said.

By Agence France-Presse – theaustralian.news

A woman in her 50s and a second, still to be identified, younger woman have been gunned down outside a house in Nesøya, a residential district to the west of Oslo, police spokesman Per Zimmer said. “We know little or nothing about the motive. We are trying to get an idea of what happened. We have received some information on what could be behind (the shooting), but it is too early to say.”

The gunman, a man in his 60s armed with a rifle, “had a close relationship with the woman in her 50s”, Mr Zimmer said today. His relationship with the second victim was not immediately clear. The killer, a Norwegian whose name has not been released, was found dead inside the same house close to where his victims’ bodies were discovered. “He probably killed himself,” said Mr Zimmer, adding that police had not opened fire.

Armed police units had been sent to the scene, an upmarket and normally quiet area bordering the Oslo fjord. The area was sealed off after the shooting and residents told to stay indoors. “We were alerted around 5.45pm (1.45am AEST Tuesday)… the first information that we received said that there was a man running (around the area) with a gun,” Mr Zimmer said.

A local resident quoted by the Verdens Gang newspaper said six shots had been fired by the gunman. “I heard six gun shots. First two quick shots one after another, then four more,” the resident said. “After the two first shots, I heard women screaming.”

According to one neighbour, one of the victims was shot several times. “My father told me that he saw the gunman go down the street and fire at least five shots,” he told the Aftenposten newspaper.

The neighbour told the Norwegian newspaper his father found the woman lying on the ground after being hit by several bullets. The incident happened in front of several witnesses, but it appears they were not targeted by the gunman, Mr Zimmer said.