Shooting spree lasted 1.5 hours
A gunman who opened fire on an island teeming with young people kept shooting for 1.5 hours before surrendering to a SWAT team, which arrived 40 minutes after they were called, police said.
Survivors of the shooting spree have described hiding and fleeing into the water to escape the gunman, but a police briefing Saturday detailed for the first time how long the terror lasted — and how long victims waited for help.
When the SWAT team arrived, the gunman, who had two firearms, surrendered, said Police Chief Sveinung Sponheim. “There were problems with transport to Utoya” island, where the youth-wing of Norway’s Labor Party was holding a retreat, Sponheim said. “It was difficult to get a hold of boats, but that problem was solved when the SWAT team arrived.”
At least 85 people were killed on the island, but police said four or five people were still missing. Divers have been searching the waters around the island. The attack followed a bombing at a government building in Oslo. Police are still digging through rubble there, and Sponheim said body parts remain in the building.
PM Jens Stoltenberg said the twin attacks made Friday peacetime Norway's deadliest day.
“This is beyond comprehension. It’s a nightmare. It’s a nightmare for those who have been killed, for their mothers and fathers, family and friends,” he said.
