Overview
- Police launched an armed response to reports of suspicious behavior at the synagogue and cordoned off the area with officers in protective gear and drones.
- Officers saw two people in a car near the site, one ran off as the driver sped away, and a pursuit toward Orkanger ended with a spike-strip stop near Svorkmo.
- The driver was taken into custody and investigators continued searching for the second individual as police began lifting cordons around the synagogue.
- Incident commander Karl Småland said there appears to be no link to an earlier threat against the synagogue, and the PST was notified as part of routine procedure.
- The operation followed increased security after the March 8 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Oslo and came shortly after a separate ramming and shooting was reported at Temple Israel in Michigan, where the FBI said it was assisting local partners.