The police say the strongest hypothesis about Espen Andersen Bråthen’s motive for murder is that the background for the attack was illness.
Police Inspector Per Thomas Omholt stated that the police are carrying out a broad investigation.
“We are working with a lot of hypotheses. They are weakened and strengthened during the investigation. We will find out what has happened and why it has happened,” he said.
He mentioned anger, revenge, impulse, jihad, illness, or provocation as some of the hypotheses the police are working on. The investigation has strengthened the hypothesis that the background for Bråthen’s actions is an illness.
“The strongest hypothesis for motive is illness. It will, therefore, now be important to obtain information about the accused man’s past,” Omholt said.
However, he added that the police are still open to other hypotheses being strengthened. On Thursday, Hans Sverre Sjøvold, the chief of Norway’s Police Security Service (PST), said there was no doubt that the killings at Kongsberg appear to be a possible terrorist act.
A planned attack?
The police also believe that Bråthen planned the attacks, at least to a certain extent. Earlier, the police stated that they did not think the actions appeared planned.
“The hypothesis that has been strengthened so far in the investigation is that he has thought about these actions that carried out in advance, but not for long. This is a hypothesis that has been strengthened,” Omholt said.
He says the man has admitted to the facts of the case but that he has not admitted criminal guilt.
The accused has been remanded in custody for four weeks and is now in a closed health institution instead of custody in prison.
He will also be subject to full observation to clarify whether he was sane or not at the time of the act.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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