Two plain-clothes police officers were stabbed and seriously injured outside a bank in the small southern Norwegian town of Vennesla Friday afternoon. They were undergoing treatment at a hospital in nearby Kristiansand Friday night.
Details of the incident remained sketchy, but witnesses told local newspaper Fædrelandsvennen that a man wearing what appeared to be ski mask was seen walking towards a Prix grocery store in the town center. Suddenly another man came running and collapsed, with a knife wound in his throat. He was wearing a police ID card around his neck, and another man was injured nearby.
The witnesses said the two police officers had taken contact with the man wearing the ski mask when he stood near the bank. He apparently stabbed them both before heading towards the grocery store.
Police ended up cordoning off most of the downtown area and launched a major manhunt. Within an hour, they had located and arrested the alleged assailant, who had locked himself in a bathroom at a local health- and elder-care facility. He was also taken to the hospital, Sørlandet sykehus, for an examination of his state of mind.
Police officials said the two officers were on duty and had approached the suspect on their own initiative. “It makes a huge impression on the entire police force when two colleagues are subjected to such a serious attack,” Police Chief Kirsten Lindeberg told Fædrelandsvennen. “Fortunately they’re doing better now.”
newsinenglish.no staff
