An unhappy client of Norway’s social welfare agency NAV pulled out a gun and fired at least one shot into the ceiling of a NAV district office in Oslo’s Tøyen district Friday afternoon. Police including special forces quickly evacuated the building and took the man into custody.
One witness told newspaper Aftenposten that he’d seen the man quarreling with a NAV employee. Suddenly the man bandished a pistol and fired into the ceiling. Other witness said there were multiple shots. Then the man took a NAV employee with him into a separate office.
Fearing they faced a hostage situation, police cordoned off the commercial complex where the NAV office is located and evacuated the building. Within 20 minutes, however, they had subdued the man, said to be in his 60s, and had him under arrest.
“No one was physically hurt, but many witnesses were crying,” Thor Langlie of the Oslo Police District told Aftenposten. He said the motive for the shooting wasn’t immediately clear.
Views and News staff