On 13 October 2021, a man attacked eight people with various weapons – including a bow and arrow – at locations in Kongsberg, Buskerud, Norway, a town about 70 kilometres (43 mi) southwest of the capital city Oslo.

The accused, identified as Espen Andersen Bråthen,[a] a 37-year-old Danish citizen born in Norway and with a history of mental illness,[1] was taken into custody on the same day and charged with murder.

Although he pleaded guilty, in June 2022, a court determined his mental illness meant he could not be held criminally responsible for his actions, and he was sentenced to psychiatric confinement.

[7][8] The perpetrator is said to have first started attacking people inside a Coop Extra supermarket in Kongsberg and then moved over a large area.

[5][7][8] By the time of the arrest, the attack had spurred a large emergency response including 22 heavily armed police patrols, more than ten ambulances, and two helicopters.

[22] The suspect was taken to a police station in Drammen, where his defence lawyer said he was questioned for more than three hours, was co-operating with authorities,[7] and has confessed to the attack.

[26] The Norwegian Police Security Service launched a terrorism investigation, but officers were focusing on a broad range of motives.

[14] Questions were raised by residents and Norwegian media about the inability of police to stop the attack during their first confrontation with the perpetrator; officers in Norway are trained to immediately respond to an ongoing incident without waiting for other units.

[43] The forensic psychiatrists Harald Brauer, Helge Haugerud, and Knut-Petter Langlo had examined Espen Andersen Bråthen.

[44] On 24 June 2022, Bråthen was convicted in the attack but the court found that he was unfit for punishment under Norwegian law due to chronic paranoid schizophrenia and was therefore ordered to compulsory mental health care.