Already in 2017, the comrade warned the police about Espen Andersen Bråthen. – Really hope that you follow a little, before life is lost, he warned.
It was 37-year-old Espen Andersen Bråthen who killed five people on Kongsberg. In questioning with the police, Bråthen has admitted that he was the one who killed five people in Kongsberg on Wednesday night. Two more are injured.
Also read: Man (37) charged with the murders in Kongsberg
“The incidents in Kongsberg appear at the moment as an act of terrorism, but the investigation, which is led by the South-East police district, will clarify in more detail what the incidents were motivated by. The threat level in Norway is still considered moderate. “ informs PST on Thursday (read own case).
Several neighbors identify Bråthen as the man who comes with the threats on video. The online newspaper has notified defender Fredrik Neumann that we are naming Bråthen. He does not want to comment on this.
Here is the video that Espen Andersen Bråthen published in 2017, and which formed the basis for the comrade to notify the police.
Police say on Thursday that they have received several warnings that the man has been radicalized – no later than 2020.
A close friend of Bråthen, tells Nettavisen that Bråthen has struggled with mental problems for years, without having received proper help.
The killings took place in various places in Kongsberg center on Wednesday night. Bråthen shot people with a bow and arrow, as well as used a knife. Four women and a man were killed. Two people were injured.
Read, among other things: Tells about the drama: – There was an arrow in his back
Several names of alleged perpetrators have surfaced on social media.
also read
Reacts strongly: Names people as Kongsberg killer
– Never received help
– We have been deeply concerned for him for many years. He’s not a monster. This is really a sensitive and vulnerable person who has struggled a lot with the psyche and who has never received help. He has been totally confused and pushed everyone away, says the friend to Nettavisen.
In 2017, he even notified the police about the man. Then Bråthen had posted two videos on Youtube, where he made threats that he would do something. The video has today been unpublished.
Also read: PST: Appears as an act of terrorism – does not change the threat assessment
In the two videos, Bråthen says the same threat in English and Norwegian. The online newspaper publishes the Norwegian version in this article.
– Hi. I’m a messenger. I’m coming with a warning. Is this really what you want? And for anyone who wants to make up for it, the time has come. Testify that I am a Muslim, he says, among other things.
“He is as far as I know paranoid schizophrenic and can be very dangerous. He has previously been forcibly admitted to Lier, and I think the content of these videos is very frightening » wrote the friend to the police in 2017.
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Warned the police
The friend told the police in 2017 that the 37-year-old had already talked about Islam for several years, and that it was time to help the man. He then asked that the comrade get help, and that the police should follow what he was doing.
“The police should know well who this person is and I really hope that you follow along a bit, before lives are lost …” he wrote.
Since then, the 37-year-old has become more and more isolated and distant from reality.
– He has become totally confused and no longer understands anything of the world around him, the friend believes.
Also read: Terrorist groups have encouraged the use of bows as weapons
He says that the man has been forcibly admitted several times, but that he has not received proper treatment.
– He has been forcibly admitted, and then robbed again. That’s how psychiatry is in Norway, the friend says resignedly. He believes that the public health service must take great responsibility for the tragedy that has now happened in Kongsberg.
– When did you realize that it was your friend who was behind it?
– I realized that right away. There are 25,000 people living in Kongsberg. None of them are as crazy as he is, says the friend.
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