# Five dead in Norway bow and arrow attack **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 14, 2021, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-dead-in-norway-bow-and-arrow-attack/952467 "2021-10-14T08:38:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2021, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-dead-in-norway-bow-and-arrow-attack/952467/21 "2021-10-15T02:12:19Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Enough for the hijack. If he could get off that many arrows (I believe there were several more people injured) imagine what he could have done with an AK-47. On the other hand, a gun carries its own warning, by virtue of the noise. Most people, if they hear shots, or something that might be shots, will try to seek cover. Whereas a bow is much quieter. It would probably take people in the vicinity significantly longer to figure out what was happening. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2021, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-dead-in-norway-bow-and-arrow-attack/952467/22 "2021-10-15T04:36:10Z")
ooooh. terrible! ---
**Author:** ![Galgrip8r](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Galgrip8r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galgrip8r)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2021, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-dead-in-norway-bow-and-arrow-attack/952467/23 "2021-10-15T09:30:27Z")
Thank you. There are Norwegians, and other fellow members of humanity, reading this thread. The shooter is Espen A. Bråthen, 37-year-old Danish citizen who lived most of his adult life in Norway. He recently converted to Islam, and there were concerns of radicalization. His mental health is currently being investigated. He has a previous history of encounters with law enforcement, and is a “known person” to PST (police intelligence). His parents recently had a restraining order taken out against him because of “threating behaviour”. It appears that all victims were murdered after the initial confrontation with the police in a grocery store. The police was armed at this point, but could not position themselves for a good shot. He managed to escape, and proceeded to invade several (random) homes where he murdered victims who were completely unprepared. Source: aftenposten.no ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2021, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-dead-in-norway-bow-and-arrow-attack/952467/24 "2021-10-15T09:47:55Z")
> **[Murder in Norwegian law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_(Norwegian_law))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > In Norway an act of murder (mord or drap) is, as in other legal systems, illegal and considered a very serious offense. > Until 2015, murder was classified and punished as follows: > Assisted suicide is generally illegal in Norway, and will in most cases be treated as planned murder, although the punishment may be milder depending on the circumstances. I assume that under the concept of forvaring this man will never be released from prison. ---
**Author:** ![Galgrip8r](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Galgrip8r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galgrip8r)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2021, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-dead-in-norway-bow-and-arrow-attack/952467/25 "2021-10-15T13:48:59Z")
I hope you’re right. If he is not found sane, he will be transferred to the care of the Department of Health and undergo compulsory mental health care (in a locked institution) for all unforeseeable future. Currently, reports state that no terrorism charge is on the table. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2021, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-dead-in-norway-bow-and-arrow-attack/952467/26 "2021-10-15T14:00:57Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > For some reason, the idea of being shot-impaled by an arrow squicks me out far more than the prospect of being shot by a bullet, even though from a trauma standpoint both are pretty similar and severe wounds. Not sure why. I’d guess being shot by a broadhead (the sort of arrow bowhunters use) probably inflicts worse damage. Imagine being stabbed through with a kitchen knife, then the attacker rotates the knife 90 degrees and stabs you again in the same spot, producing an “X” shaped stab wound. [https://www.amazon.com/Archery-Broadheads/b?ie=UTF8&node=719936011](https://www.amazon.com/Archery-Broadheads/b?ie=UTF8&node=719936011) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2021, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-dead-in-norway-bow-and-arrow-attack/952467/27 "2021-10-15T15:57:42Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Jesus fucking Christ, can you people give it a rest? It was an interesting observation **digs** made, but now you’re all just riding it into the ground. In a thread about murdered people. Sorry, on reflection I realize that my brain was finding an “interesting tangent” because it didn’t want to face the horror\* of the situation. What I should have done is wait a month or so and put that observation in a “word usage” thread. \*(God, I hope those were straight target points, it’s bad enough to be imagining what those feel like…) ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2021, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-dead-in-norway-bow-and-arrow-attack/952467/28 "2021-10-15T16:02:47Z")
> [@digs](#): > > A four-hour shotgun-and-shell standoff” Shouldn’t that be: “shotgun and pellet”? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2021, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-dead-in-norway-bow-and-arrow-attack/952467/29 "2021-10-15T17:57:09Z")
[Repeating crossbows](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repeating_crossbow) exist, and have been around since the 2nd century CE. And they aren’t just historical relics, Amazon sells a modern equivalent with an AR 15 style shoulder rest. You’re still not able to fire one as quickly as you would a pistol. It could fire a bolt maybe every 2 seconds. You can quickly empty a pistol magazine and reload it in a tiny fraction of the time. Either way these shootings are horrible and I feel for the families of the victims. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2021, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-dead-in-norway-bow-and-arrow-attack/952467/30 "2021-10-15T18:06:43Z")
I’ve heard both are deadlier than the other, but I suspect a bullet is somewhat deadlier. An arrowhead is broader and does more damage in the entry wound. However, it doesn’t got as deep (less likely to damage certain vital organs) and rarely causes an exit wound. I also suspect a bone would do a much better job stopping an arrow than a bullet, again depending on where the projectile struck. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2021, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-dead-in-norway-bow-and-arrow-attack/952467/31 "2021-10-15T18:28:39Z")
> [@Kimera757](#): > > I’ve heard both are deadlier than the other, but I suspect a bullet is somewhat deadlier. > > An arrowhead is broader and does more damage in the entry wound. However, it doesn’t got as deep (less likely to damage certain vital organs) and rarely causes an exit wound. I also suspect a bone would do a much better job stopping an arrow than a bullet, again depending on where the projectile struck. These are all moot points, because we know that the perp was able to kill five people and injure some others within minutes. I’m sick of this geeking out over weapons and guns in this kind of threads. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2021, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-dead-in-norway-bow-and-arrow-attack/952467/32 "2021-10-16T11:41:46Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > > [@digs](#): > > > > A four-hour shotgun-and-shell standoff” > > Shouldn’t that be: “shotgun and pellet”? That’s a warning. I explicitly said to knock it off, hours before your post. ---
**Author:** ![Mikkel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikkel/32/13151_2.png) [@Mikkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikkel)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2021, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-dead-in-norway-bow-and-arrow-attack/952467/33 "2021-10-16T16:12:32Z")
As far as I know he abandoned the bow (and arrows) after wounding some people. The people who was killed was stabbed with a knife. The imam at the mosque the killer went to, some years ago, say that he couldn’t even pray properly and the imam had asked Bråthen to see a doctor. ---
**Author:** ![K2500](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f6c823/32.png) [@K2500](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K2500)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2021, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-dead-in-norway-bow-and-arrow-attack/952467/34 "2021-10-18T05:06:17Z")
> [@Kimera757](#): > > However, it doesn’t got as deep (less likely to damage certain vital organs) and rarely causes an exit wound. I’m not a bow hunter but I understand that arrows passing all the way through comparably sized game animals to be a fairly common occurrence, with broad heads. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2021, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-dead-in-norway-bow-and-arrow-attack/952467/35 "2021-10-18T08:00:42Z")
From my ex brother in law, the globe trotting bow hunting douchbag “something something no hydrostatic shock something passes right through. Something something no pain. They just pass out from blood loss argle bargle.” ---
**Author:** ![filmstar-en](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@filmstar-en](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmstar-en)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2021, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-dead-in-norway-bow-and-arrow-attack/952467/36 "2021-10-18T15:30:41Z")
> **[Norway attack victims stabbed not shot with arrows, say police](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/18/norway-attack-victims-stabbed-not-shot-with-arrows-say-police)** > > Attacker was armed with bow and arrows but five people who died had in fact been stabbed, police confirm [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/five-dead-in-norway-bow-and-arrow-attack/952467.md?page=1)