At least 85 dead in shooting at Norwegian youth camp

July 23, 2011

A gunman, identified by Norwegian media as, has shot and killed at least 85 people at a youth camp on the island of in Norway. The 32-year-old man has been charged with both this attack and an explosion in the capital city of Oslo, which killed at least seven people. Police searched Breivik's apartment in Oslo overnight and have been interrogating him.

Breivik is reported to have arrived at the camp dressed as a police officer, telling children to gather around him for protection before systematically shooting them. It is not yet known whether he acted alone; police say there are no concrete reports of a second gunman, but this cannot be ruled out.

The camp was organised by the (AUF), which is affiliated with the. A number of sources, both inside and outside of Norway, are speculating that an opposition to the Labour Party's immigration policies, especially regarding Muslims, was Breivik's motivation for the attacks.

Islam is the second largest religion in Norway, after Christianity, and Breivik's comments on the political website Document.no, where he posted using his real name between September 2009 and October 2010, expressed anti-Islamic sentiments. He described the religion as a and compared it to. His Twitter account was used to post only a single comment, quoting philosopher : "One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100 000 who have only interests".

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who described the island as "a youth paradise turned into a hell", reports that a number of children have not yet been located. He, and the families of some of the children killed, met with King, his wife , and their son , and was said to have been "deeply touched" by the meetings.

He also said that it is "too early to speculate" about the shootings, and that the police should be allowed to continue with their investigations before people "jump to any conclusions".

Breivik, who ran a farm, reportedly recently purchased six tonnes of fertiliser, which is speculated to have been involved in the making of the Oslo bomb.

The island of Utøya is closed to the public, and an official at the British embassy in Oslo does not recommend travel to the immediate area of central Oslo where the bomb was detonated. However, she is not discouraging travel to Norway, nor to Oslo.