Norway Bow and Arrow Attack Leaves Several Dead

OSLO — A man armed with a bow and arrow went on a rampage in a Norwegian town on Wednesday, killing and wounding several people, the authorities said.

The attack took place in Kongsberg, a town of 26,000 people about 50 miles outside Oslo. A suspect was reported to be in custody.

“The information we now have, this person carried out these actions alone,” the police chief, Oyvind Aas, told reporters.

The attack began shortly after 6 p.m., when the assailant began making his way through the center of the town. Residents were urged to seek shelter inside.A half hour later, a suspect was in custody, the police said.

Across the country, the Norwegian police, who ordinarily are not armed, were given authorization to carry weapons “due to the serious incident in Kongsberg,” the authorities said in a statement late Wednesday. They described it as a precaution.

“The police currently have no concrete indications that there is a change in the threat level in the country,” the statement said.

The authorities did not immediately release information about the suspect.

“It is natural to consider if it is a terror event,” Chief Aas said at a news conference, adding that it was “too soon to say for sure what the man’s motivation is.”