Prosecutors said the man who killed five people in a bow and arrow attack in Norway this week has been handed over to health services, amid speculation he may have mental health problems.
«He was handed over to the health services on Thursday evening after his health was assessed,» Prosecutor Anne-Irene Svane-Mattiasin told AFP.
Doubts have been raised about the mental health of the man identified as Danish citizen Espen Andersen Bratten, and whether he could be held legally responsible for the attack.
He confessed to the killings.
Yesterday began a psychological evaluation that was expected to take several months.
Meanwhile, a judge is due to decide later today whether to detain Brattain. The prosecution demanded that he be detained for four weeks, provided that the first two be in isolation.
The attorney general said that if the judge agreed to the prosecution’s request, he would not be imprisoned, but rather be held in medical care.
While police have said the attack may have been an act of terrorism, authorities have not ruled out the possibility of mental health issues.
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“There is no doubt that the actual act appears to be an act of terrorism, but it is important that the investigation continues and that we establish the suspect’s motive,” the head of the Norwegian PST Intelligence Service, Hans Säfjer Sjovold, said at a press conference on Thursday.
“This is someone who has been in and out of the health system for quite some time,” Siewold said.