Two dead and one seriously injured as gunman opens fire on hunting party in Norway

Two people were killed and another seriously injured when a shooter opened fire on a hunting party in southern Norway, police said, according to the Associated Press.

The suspect was arrested at the scene and is not believed to be part of the hunting party, police said; the injured victim was airlifted to hospital. The shooting was near Halden, about 96 kilometres (60 miles) from Oslo and near the Swedish border.

Police raced to the forest east of Halden at around 8am after reports of a shooting, The Sun reported, citing Norwegian police. At least ten people were present, emergency manager Wilhelm Bjølseth said, and the group was distributing guard posts when they came under fire.

The Sun reported, citing police, that drones and sniffer dogs were deployed before the search was called off 90 minutes later with the arrest of a 20-year-old man. Witnesses reportedly detained the perpetrator before handing him over to police.

Police said they were still establishing the attacker’s relationship to the victims and any motive. “We are conducting technical investigations at the scene and will question several people,” a police statement read.

Halden mayor Fredrik Holm said a crisis team had been set up. “This is a very serious and tragic incident that has hit several people hard. Our thoughts go out to the relatives,” acting police chief Vibeke Schøyen said, The Sun reported. Operations manager Gisle Lindheim Sveen said the area was no longer considered dangerous, warning people not to let dogs loose there.