Victims have been shot in six of the 17 murder cases that the police have investigated so far this year. That is the highest number in over ten years, according to the newspaper Dagbladet.

“We don’t want to have shootings, and especially on the open street, in Norway. Even one episode is one too many,” State Secretary Thor Kleppen Sættem (H) in the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Management told the newspaper.

However, he believes it is too early to use the figures to draw conclusions about trends. According to the police’s own figures, firearms have been used on average in less than 10% of murder cases between 2011 and 2020. 

So far this year, the proportion is over 35%, Dagbladet writes. The last time there were a lot of murder cases involving firearms was in 2009 (in eight out of 26 cases).

So far this year, the police have started investigating 17 murder cases.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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