Oslo - An armed man stole an ambulance in
Oslo on Tuesday, lightly injuring five people including two
babies in an apparent attempt to target pedestrians, Norwegian
police and hospital officials told Reuters.
The man was apprehended after police shot at the vehicle,
police said, adding the suspect was not critically injured.
Police said the suspect had appeared to deliberately hit
pedestrians, and that they had found a significant amount of
what appeared to be illegal drugs following the arrest, as well
as a shotgun and an Uzi semiautomatic weapon.
They would also investigate whether the suspect had ties to
far-right extremists, although a motive had not been
established, and it had yet to interview the suspect.
"Two babies were injured after the hijacked ambulance hit a
family. They are twins, seven months old, they are being
treated," Oslo University hospital spokesman Anders Bayer told
Reuters.
A damaged ambulance with bullet holes in the door is seen crashed into a building after an incident in the centre of Oslo. Picture: Stian Lysberg Solum/NTB scanpix via AP
The injures were light however, police later said.
Public broadcaster NRK showed images of an ambulance driving
in the Torshov neighbourhood of Oslo while several gunshots rang
out.
The hospital spokesman said the ambulance crew had responded
to a routine incident when their vehicle was taken.
An upturned car is cordoned off by police after an incident in the centre of Oslo. Norwegian police opened fire on an armed man who stole an ambulance in Oslo and reportedly ran down several people. Picture: Stian Lysberg Solum/NTB scanpix via AP
"They were called to an ordinary traffic accident where they
were met by the armed person," Bayer said, adding that the
hospital had quickly tracked the ambulance via its built-in GPS
device.
"Some minutes later one of our other ambulances managed to
stop the hijacked vehicle by crashing into it. Then the police
came after the crash and got him," he said.
A damaged ambulance is seen crashed into a building after an incident in the centre of Oslo. Picture: Stian Lysberg Solum/NTB scanpix via AP
The ambulance came to a halt just over 1.5 km (1 mile) from
where it was hijacked.
"An armed man stole an ambulance, drove away and hit some
people. We got him now," the police spokesman told Reuters.
A damaged ambulance is seen parked after an incident in the centre of Oslo. Picture: Stian Lysberg Solum/NTB scanpix via AP
"There is nothing to indicate that this incident is
terrorism related," Oslo police operations leader Erik Hestvik
told reporters. The police added in a statement: "The
investigation is still in an early phase ... We are conducting a
broad, intensive investigation."
Norwegian police opened fire on an armed man who stole an ambulance in Oslo and reportedly ran down several people. Picture: Stian Lysberg Solum/NTB scanpix via AP