On June 25, 2022, a 42-year-old man opened fire at a well-known LGBTQ+ venue in Oslo, killing two and injuring 21. Witnesses say the suspect took a gun out of his bag and started shooting.
The Prime Minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Stoere, spoke at a memorial service at the Oslo Cathedral. Mr. Stoere said, “These misdeeds remind us of this. This fight is not over. It is not safe from dangers. But we are going to win it, together.”
He was joined by many, including Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, in the cathedral that was decorated with lit-candles and rainbow colors. Olav Fykse Tveit, the head of the Norwegian Protestant Church, stated that “bullets cannot kill love.” Mr. Tveit said while his church was against same-sex couples for many years, but they have to “learn, sometimes in spite of ourselves, that diversity is a present, a richness.”
After the shooting, thousands of people marched, with many shouting “We’re here, we’re queer, and we won’t disappear!”
The shooter was soon caught by police officers and multiple passersby. One eyewitness said in an interview that he “stood on the shooter’s weapon.” “My thought then was to run and stand on it, so that no one would come,” he mentioned.
The suspect’s neighbor was shocked to find out she lived next door to Mr. Matapour, the suspect’s given name by the police. When she was asked whether the shooting ruined Pride, she responded, “Our case is strengthened – not his.”
The Prime Minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Stoere, spoke at a memorial service at the Oslo Cathedral. Mr. Stoere said, “These misdeeds remind us of this. This fight is not over. It is not safe from dangers. But we are going to win it, together.”
He was joined by many, including Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, in the cathedral that was decorated with lit-candles and rainbow colors. Olav Fykse Tveit, the head of the Norwegian Protestant Church, stated that “bullets cannot kill love.” Mr. Tveit said while his church was against same-sex couples for many years, but they have to “learn, sometimes in spite of ourselves, that diversity is a present, a richness.”
After the shooting, thousands of people marched, with many shouting “We’re here, we’re queer, and we won’t disappear!”
The shooter was soon caught by police officers and multiple passersby. One eyewitness said in an interview that he “stood on the shooter’s weapon.” “My thought then was to run and stand on it, so that no one would come,” he mentioned.
The suspect’s neighbor was shocked to find out she lived next door to Mr. Matapour, the suspect’s given name by the police. When she was asked whether the shooting ruined Pride, she responded, “Our case is strengthened – not his.”
