This story wreaks of stupidity, adult irresponsibility and incompetence. There is no reason for children to be put through hell like this. One guy walking around a wooded island looking for kids to shoot for 90 minutes, would have been an incredibly easy target to take down. Anyone with minimal rifle training and a scope could have taken this guy out in a matter of a couple of minutes. I can put twenty out of twenty .223 rounds in a three inch circle at 100 yards without even concentrating. There was a news helicopter filming the shooting. Why weren’t they shooting bullets instead of news reel?
(Reuters) – “Why didn’t you come earlier?,” survivors screamed when Norwegian police arrived after an hour in which Anders Behring Breivik had wandered the wooded island of Utoeya shooting dead 68 people, most of them teenagers.
In a nation united by grief over the worst massacre in its modern history, few except the survivors quoted by media have criticized authorities for not preventing the attacks or for the speed of their response once they had been carried out.Already reeling from Breivik’s bomb in Oslo, the police response to the island massacre was beset with problems — from a boat so overloaded with officers it took on water, to special forces without a suitable helicopter to fly them there.
Meanwhile the minutes ticked by and Breivik hunted down his victims who hid under beds, climbed trees and hid in bushes or jumped into the lake in desperate attempts to flee.
It was 5.26 p.m. Friday when local police in Nordre Buskerud first received an alert about shootings on the island. Four minutes later they notified Oslo and another eight minutes after that they formally requested back-up.
Fourteen minutes later still, local police arrived at the shore of the mainland, but for a further 17 minutes waited for a boat.
“We asked for help from the SWAT team in Oslo, which is specially trained to deal with armed situations. We did not know about the extent of the situation that was out there,” North Buskerud police chief Sissel Hammer was quoted as saying by the Dagsavisen daily newspaper.
“But this was not about waiting, this was 17 minutes during which we prepared ourselves.”
Meanwhile campers on the lake shore had taken matters into their own hands and set off in boats to pluck survivors from the water, some of them coming under fire from Breivik in the process. One camper alone rescued 40 to 50 terrified people
I could have crossed that 1600 feet in my canoe in less than 5 minutes, and I would have. Even if I could not have gained a clear shot, I would have kept the shooter busy until others arrived. Those police will have to live with this failure for the rest of their lives.
Norway needs to funnel all climate change funds towards the purchase of boats and helicopters for their police. I am not aware of one fatatilty related to climate change in Norway this year.
The problem here is the Norwegian law.
If I had a rifle and took this guy down while he was killing others, without him threathening me, I would have been arrested and prisoned by the same law as him and with the same potential for 20 years in prison.
Believe it or not, but this is the reality in PM Jens Stoltenbergs socialistic paradise.
Yes, for his dozens of killings, he gets 21 years. Fair trade for 76 lives?
I hear you, but is there really any choice? Kids are dying, the rules go out the window. I would take him out, worry about court later. ‘Take him out’ means not wounding him, it means at least one head shot. There would be far more trouble for you if he survived.
Not in a place they outlaw guns.
This reminds me of a true story in my youth. I had stopped at a Dunkin Donuts at 2 AM after a date and two Chicago cops (1 older and 1 rookie) were sitting at the counter when a dispatcher called them on their hand held set and told them to answer a call. I don’t remember the code but I remember the rookie cop say to his partner “That’s breaking and entering”. As the rookie cop put down his coffee and tried to stand the veteran cop grabbed him and yanked him back to his stool. The rookie cop was taken by surprise but before he could comment the veteran cop said, “Give him (burglar) 15 minutes to finish and then we’ll go. I’m too close to retirement to get shot now.” That’s when I first thought about buying a gun.
The terrorist’s strategy enabled by an anti-gun mentality ensured that only one person on that island was armed: the bad guy. All the good guys were obeying the law.
The pics of the idiot being paraded around are quite chilling. he’s obviously enjoying himself…time for a hood forcibly put around his head? I suspect, that would be breaking some law as well
What a sick bastard. Maybe he is missing a nut like Hitler was.
A sick bastard. But according to pictures in the newspapers he seems very satisfied with him self:
VG:
http://translate.google.no/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=no&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=no&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vg.no%2F
Dagbladet:
http://translate.google.no/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=no&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=no&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dagbladet.no%2F
Mr Goddard, first line “wreaks” (to inflict or execute) should be “reeks” (strong, unpleasant smell). (I think!)
Not being pedantic, some AGW shill will pick up on it.
Regards,
Ed Moran.
This is one of the reasons for the downfall of society. Rand and file have swelled their ranks with female officers, affirmative action dumbasses, and offloaded their duties to SWAT teams. There is unbridled bureaucracy everywhere, even in the police. Any real cop would charge in and size up the situation and most likely choose to end it or die trying. It is sad that this incident is needed teach some Europeans (an some of our stupid liberals as well) that cops are *not* gonna save you, but they will be there to zip up the body bag and fill out the paperwork. The core problem lies in the ‘civilized’ society that believes they can farm out their well being to bureaucrats while completely ignoring the fact that they are humans just as you are. Why would they be any better than you at taking care of yourself?
Now there is one real hero. Thank god for this person. Someone capable of thinking on their feet. Clone this person and fill up your Congress or Parliament with them.
Also, that thing about unarmed campers is very strange. I would say that it is almost unheard of here, practically impossible unless it is on some federal preserve or some other politically correct situation. I cannot imagine being unarmed and helpless hiking, boating or barbecuing, let alone camping.
AARRGGHH! Typo:
… Rank and file have swelled their ranks with female officers, affirmative action dumbasses, and offloaded their duties to SWAT teams.