Bio

Espen Andersen Bråthen was born in 1983 in Norway. His father was Norwegian and his mother was Danish. He held Danish citizenship.

He lived his whole life in Norway. He grew up and stayed in Norway as an adult.

He lived in the town of Kongsberg in Buskerud county.

Murder Story

On 13 October 2021 a man attacked eight people with various weapons, including a bow and arrow, in Kongsberg, Norway. Five people were killed and three were injured. The accused was identified as Espen Andersen Bråthen, a 37-year-old Danish citizen born in Norway with a history of mental illness. He was taken into custody the same day and charged with murder. He pleaded guilty, but in June 2022 a court found him not criminally responsible and ordered psychiatric confinement.

Police were first notified at 18:12 CEST about a person walking around Kongsberg with a bow and arrows. A patrol was quickly sent, followed by three others. Armed officers confronted the man six minutes after the first calls, but he shot arrows at them and escaped. Police later said he then carried out the attacks.

The attacker first began inside a Coop Extra supermarket and then moved over a large area. Police said he first fired arrows but often missed. He used two other weapons in addition to the bow. Police said all of the fatalities were from stabbings, and that he had discarded or lost the bow at some point. At least one non-fatal injury was caused by an arrow in a man’s back. Pictures showed arrows lodged in walls. He left the store and continued attacks in the street and in a residential area.

Police cordoned off parts of Kongsberg during the incident. An arrest was made at 18:47, about 35 minutes after the attack began. Police described the situation as confusing and said a warning shot was fired at the time of the arrest. By then there were 22 heavily armed police patrols, more than ten ambulances, and two helicopters responding. The attack was the deadliest in Norway since the 2011 attacks.

Five people were killed and three others were injured. The five killed were four women and one man. Two were 75 years old, one was 78, one was 56, and one was 52-year-old German musician and writer Andrea Haugen. They were killed either in their homes or in public spaces. The three survivors did not have life-threatening injuries. One survivor was an off-duty police officer. Investigators said the victims were attacked in different locations.

The suspect was taken to a police station in Drammen and questioned for more than three hours. His lawyer said he was cooperating and he confessed to the attack. On 14 October police moved him to the custody of health services for a psychiatric evaluation. He was charged with the murders of five people and for injuring several others. The Norwegian Police Security Service opened a terrorism investigation but police said they were looking at a broad range of motives. Danish authorities said they would work with Norway on the investigation. Police said they were investigating his mental state and questioned a total of 140 witnesses.

Espen Andersen Bråthen was born in 1983 in Norway to a Norwegian father and a Danish mother and had lived his life in Norway. He lived in Kongsberg at the time of the attack. He had prior convictions for break-ins, cannabis possession, and death threats against family members. He had converted to Islam around 2016. An imam in Kongsberg said Bråthen told him he had a “revelation” but did not appear dangerous. Police were first made aware of him in 2015 and last contacted him in 2020. They had been concerned about possible extremist views after videos he posted in 2017, but found no criminal threats then. In 2018 health services were notified, but they judged he was unlikely to commit a terrorist attack. He was not on the police radar in 2021. Police said his conversion was an unlikely motive and pointed to mental illness as a possible motivator.

The trial began on 18 May 2022 in Hokksund district court. He was charged with five murders and attempted murder of 11 more. Forensic psychiatrists examined him and diagnosed a mental illness, saying he was psychotic at the time of the attack and during observation. On 24 June 2022 the court found him unfit for punishment under Norwegian law because of chronic paranoid schizophrenia. The court ordered compulsory mental health care. This result was requested by both the prosecution and the defense.