Oslo Pride shooting in 2022: Security services apologize

The Norwegian Internal Security Service (PST) apologized on Thursday just after a report concluded that it could have avoided the deadly shooting that plunged Oslo's 2022 Pride march into mourning.

On the night of June 25, an individual opened fire near a gay bar in the heart of the Norwegian capital during the LGBT Pride March, killing two men aged 54 and 60 and wounding 9 others.

No preventive measures

Immediately after the incident, police arrested the alleged perpetrator of the shooting, Zaniar Matapour, a Norwegian of Iranian origin now aged 43, close to a known Islamist, Arfan Bhatti.

An assessment report commissioned by the police chief and the PST concluded Thursday that it would have been "possible" to prevent the shooting - whose motives have still not been officially established - if warning signs had been properly exploited.

The PST is accused of not having taken preventive measures despite information suggesting that Arfan Bhatti was likely to use Zaniar Matapour for an act of "political violence", but also for having relaxed its surveillance of the same Arfan Bhatti who had published on Facebook the image of an LGBT flag on fire a few days before the shooting.

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The services are also singled out for not having focused their attention on Zaniar Matapour despite a warning issued on 20 June by Norwegian military intelligence on the risk of an imminent "terrorist attack" over which the shadow of Arfan Bhatti hovered. "We apologize for any miscalculations that were made and the consequences they had," PST leader Beate Gangås said after the report was presented.

Quickly subdued by passers-by, Zaniar Matapour was carrying a hundred rounds of ammunition for his automatic rifle. "This could have become one of the deadliest attacks in Europe in years," said evaluation committee head Pia Therese Jansen. In the chaos generated by the shooting, another 25 people were injured.

Zaniar Matapore, suspected of a terrorist act, is now in pre-trial detention pending charges. His trial could take place in 2024. Arfan Bhatti, accused in Norway of complicity in a terrorist act, was arrested in Pakistan. The Norwegian authorities are seeking his extradition. Two other people are also incriminated in this case.