July 25th, 2011

(OSLO, Norway) — Norway’s royal court says Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s stepbrother, an off-duty police officer, was among the 86 people killed when a gunman opened fire at a youth camp.

Court spokeswoman Marianne Hagen says the victim was Trond Berntsen, the son of Mette-Marit’s stepfather, who died in 2008. (See pictures of Norway explosion and shooting.)

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

OSLO, Norway — To Anders Behring Breivik, the Norway explosion and shootings that killed at least 93 people were a “marketing method” for his manifesto, which not only lays out his extreme nationalist philosophy but reveals his attack methods and encourages like-thinkers to do their own mass killing. (Read the killer’s manifesto.)

Breivik describes how he bought armor, guns, tons of fertilizer and other bomb components, stashed caches of weapons and wiping his computer hard drive — all while evading police suspicion and being nice to his neighbors.

In discussing how and where to order bomb components, he said “there is absolutely NO GOOD REASON why anyone (unless flagged by the intelligence agency) shouldn’t be able to acquire the above materials.”

“Any single patriot who wants to establish a cell and begin action can do so, and thus becomes a part of the organisation,” he wrote.

Friday’s bombing at government headquarters in Oslo, which killed at least seven, and the shootings, which killed at least 86 at a ruling-party island retreat for young people, have rattled Norway, home to the Nobel Peace Prize and where the average policeman patrols without a firearm.

More than 90 people were wounded, and others remain missing at both crime scenes.

Authorities revealed Sunday that one of the attacker’s first victims on the island was an off-duty police officer who had been hired by the camp directors to provide private security in his spare time.

That detail sheds new light on the confusion many survivors described during the 90-minute massacre. The attacker arrived dressed as a policeman, and some were killed when they approached the killer thinking he was there to save them.

Dr. Colin Poole, head of surgery at Ringriket Hospital in Honefoss northwest of Oslo, told The Associated Press that the gunman used special bullets designed to disintegrate inside the body and cause maximum internal damage. Poole said surgeons treating 16 gunshot victims have recovered no full bullets.

“These bullets more or less exploded inside the body,” Poole said. “It’s caused us all kinds of extra problems in dealing with the wounds they cause, with very strange trajectories.”

Ballistics experts say the so-called “dum-dum” bullets also are lighter in weight and can be fired with greater accuracy over varying distances.

Police have not released the names of any victims, but they were mourned Sunday. Norway’s King Harald V, his wife, Queen Sonja, and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg were part of the crowd packed into Oslo Cathedral. People who could not fit inside the grand church, which was strewn with flowers and candles, huddled under umbrellas amid drizzling rain.

The king and queen wiped tears from their eyes during the service themed on “sorrow and hope.”

Police and Breivik’s lawyer have said that he confessed to the twin attacks but denied criminal responsibility for Norway’s deadliest day ever in peacetime. Breivik has been charged with terrorism and will be arraigned Monday.
Read more: http://www.time.com