A 20-year-old Russian man who stabbed a woman in an Oslo grocery store two weeks ago has been committed to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation. “I’ve said all along that he’s sick,” his defense attorney Ola Lunde told TV2.
“Part of the investigation involves clarification of his mental health,” noted Martin Bernsen of Norway’s police intelligence unit PST. It took over the investigation from the Oslo Police District after the man claimed he stabbed the young woman as part of a terrorist attack. He had arrived in Oslo by bus from Sweden just the day before.
The suspect, who comes from the republic of Basjkortostan in Russia, was arrested shortly after the stabbing on January 17. He has since changed his story, however, and Lunde said that those interviewing him now suspect that he suffers from schizophrenia.
The woman he stabbed underwent two rounds of emergency surgery and reportedly continues to recover from her ordeal.
newsinenglish.no staff
