‘Allahu Akbar’ Knifeman Fatally Shot in Oslo Attempted Similar Attack in 2019

Police officers stand at the site where a person was shot by police at Bislett in Oslo, No
STIAN LYSBERG SOLUM/NTB/AFP via Getty Images
Chris Tomlinson

A 33-year-old Russian national who was shot in Oslo on Tuesday after attempting to carry out a knife attack on random bystanders was also behind a similar attack that took place in 2019.

The 33-year-old, who was shirtless and barefoot at the time of the incident, allegedly yelled “Allahu Akbar” as he attempted to attack random people and police. Officers attempted to subdue the man by hitting him with their patrol vehicle but were unsuccessful.

After not being able to subdue the man by driving into him, the police left their vehicle and shot him against the wall of a building, with witnesses claiming to have heard police fire at least six shots, Norwegian online newspaper Nettavisen reports.

“The man came running after a woman with a knife. He looked crazy in the eye. When police arrived, they tried several times to drive him down. They pushed him against a wall. Then they shot him several times,” journalist Simen Lønning, an eyewitness to the incident, said.

Lønning added that the man looked “lifeless” after being shot and that police did not attempt any lifesaving measures. The Russian national was later pronounced dead.

According to the Italian newspaper Il Giornale, the man was already well-known to police and attempted another similar attack in 2019, with the Russian initially only threatening people with a knife before he eventually stabbed a migrant man from the Philippines who came to the aid of one of the people being threatened.

When police arrived to arrest the man, they used electronic tasers to subdue him. Witnesses also claimed that the Russian shouted the phrase “Allahu Akbar” during the 2019 incident as well. He had been sentenced to psychiatric care following the attack but investigators at the time did not believe it was terrorism-related.

Broadcaster NRK reports that the man was undergoing psychiatric care and was allowed on leave 24 hours before the attack. The police officer attacked has received care at a local hospital but is not believed to be seriously injured.

The attack comes just a day after a police officer in the French city of Cannes was attacked by a knife-wielding Algerian migrant who claimed to be acting “in the name of the prophet.”

In just over the last week, several western European countries have seen similar knife attacks or attack attempts by men, often from migrant backgrounds, yelling “Allahu Akbar.”

Tuesday’s incident also comes just around a month after an Islamic convert flagged for radicalisation by Norwegian authorities went on a rampage armed with a bow and a knife, killing five and injuring two others in Kongsberg.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com

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