Norway mourns bow-and-arrow victims, recalls 2011 attack
ABC News
Many Norwegians recall it all too well: politicians, residents and Norway’s royal family together mourning an act of home-grown mass violence in a nation where such tragedies are rare
HELSINKI -- Many Norwegians recall it all too well: politicians, residents and Norway's royal family together mourning an act of home-grown mass violence that profoundly shook a Scandinavian nation where such tragedies are rare.
A bow-and-arrow attack that killed five people and wounded three in a quiet town Wednesday brought immediate comparisons with a terror attack a decade and three months earlier that still ranks as Norway's worst peacetime act of slaughter.
It was only in July that church bells rang across the country as people gathered to mark the 10th anniversary of the day right-wing extremist Anders Breivik killed eight people by bombing government buildings in the capital, Oslo, and another 69 by opening fire at a youth camp on the island of Utoya.
On Thursday, flags flying at half-staff on all public buildings and candles flickering on the steps of Kongsberg Church recalled Breivik's rampage and bore quiet witness to the still unfathomable events that unfolded over 30 minutes the night before.