Anders Behring Breivik says he acted alone in “cruel but necessary” Norway attacks (VIDEO)
Labour party youth activists and survivors of the Utoya shooting react as they bid farewell to friends as they return home from a hotel near Oslo on July 23, 2011. At least 92 were killed in the July 22 attacks in Norway, and the figure could rise, said Sveinung Sponheim, acting commissioner for Oslo police.
Norwegian authorities said Sunday that Anders Behring Breivik, 32, confessed to killing at least 84 young men and women at a summer camp in a cold-blooded shooting spree on Friday after setting off a large bomb at government offices in the heart of Norway’s capital that killed at least 8.
Meanwhile, a long line of Norwegians streamed into Oslo's cathedral Sunday for a service dedicated to the 92 people killed. Police searched bags as people entered the service, which was attended by Norway's King Harald V and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, the LA Times reports.
And for the first time it was reported Sunday that another 97 people were wounded in the Oslo bombing and Utoya Island shooting rampage, while there were reports of people still missing at both scenes, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Red Cross divers using a mini-submarine were reportedly still searching the area around the island of Utoya near Oslo, where Breivik allegedly opened fire on young people at the summer camp organized by the ruling Labour Party, for bodies.
Breivik, a blond Norwegian, who calls himself a Christian conservative standing against any kind of multicultural society, also said he had acted alone, but denied criminal responsibility, saying his actions, while "atrocious" and "cruel," were "necessary," the SMH reports.
Acting Oslo police chief Sveinung Sponheim, meantime, told a news conference Sunday that there are no other suspects in the Norway attacks, the country's worst incidence of violence since World War II, VOA reports. This was despite the statements of some witnesses who said there had been a second gunman.
"During questioning, he said he acted alone," police commissioner Sveinung Sponheim reportedly said. "We will try to verify this through our inquiry."
Breivik has been charged with terrorism and will be arraigned Monday. Defense lawyer Geir Lippestad said Saturday that Breivik had expressed willingness to explain himself in court.
Police describe the Breivik as a “fundamentalist Christian” with political views that leaned to the right, VOA reports.
Police say he had posted anti-Muslim rhetoric online, and news accounts said he has been a strong opponent of multi-culturalism in Norway. Norwegian media say he wrote a 1,500-page manifesto before the attack.
(GlobalPost reports: Christian extremist allegedly behind Oslo shootings)
Breivik reportedly said he had been preparing the "martyrdom operation" since at least autumn 2009. On Saturday, a farm cooperative said it had sold six tons of fertilizer, a product sometimes used in bomb-making, to Breivik in May, VOA reports.
Although the size of the purchase was considered "relatively standard," the GeoFarm cooperative alerted authorities about the sale when it learned he was a suspect in the bombing.
The bomb that exploded at a government building in Oslo on Friday was reportedly made from fertilizer. Police also said they had found explosives on Utoya.
"Today we are mourning. Today we want to stop and remember those who died," Stoltenberg told the Sunday mass in Oslo.