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BOLKESJØ / OSLO (Dagbladet): On Tuesday afternoon, police shot and killed a man in his 30s in a bedroom of the disused Bolkesjø tourist hotel in Notodden.
Niklas Lind was outside when the man was shot inside the bedroom.
He says it was less than a minute before the police officer ran, until the shots fell.
– Not perceived as threatening
I heard the shots
Niklas Lind owns the Bolkesjø Hotel and is a colleague of the bedroom owner Hans Erik Børjesson.
Lind tells Dagbladet that she received a phone call from Børjesson to go check on what happened. There have been reports of police officers outside the bedroom.
– When I got up, there were two police cars here, but the police did not say what was happening.
Lind explains that the police were fully equipped with helmets, vests and weapons.
While he was standing with the policemen, a policeman came running up and asked his colleagues where he was going. They explained which apartment it was, and the police officer ran into this apartment, Lind explains to Dagbladet.
– He ran up and in, and then not even a minute passed before he heard the shots.
According to the hotel owner, the other policemen withdrew when the shots fell.
– I was wondering what happened, because at that time they had not told me about this that I should have called and said that he should take his life, so I tried to ask more about what had happened. But the cops didn’t say anything.
Two have the status of suspects
Shot through the wall
Hans Erik Børjesson was sitting at home having dinner when the news of the police cars in the bedroom came through.
While he was sitting on the phone with Niklas Lind, who told him what happened in the bedroom, he received another phone call. It was from the tenant of the neighboring apartment.
– He was terrified because he was shot in the apartment. Projectile tiles pierced his wall. I asked him to take cover, because there was an action going on in the neighboring apartment, Børjesson tells Dagbladet.
The special unit is now investigating the case. Meanwhile, Børjesson and Lind wonder how this could happen.
– That is what we question in hindsight, how could this really happen? Why are people not evacuated if an armed action is taking place?
According to Børjesson, there were seven tenants in the bedroom. Now there are six.
– What do you think of what happened?
– It’s incredibly sad. Obviously it affects us. There are other tenants here, and they need to be taken care of. We do the best we can, and the municipality helps us with what the crisis teams can give us, etc.
Børjesson says he feels a possible suicide call is more of a cry for help than a threat.
– Have you experienced it as a threat before?
– No. What I have had to do with him before is on a personal level, explains Børjesson and continues:
– He’s been a good guy and I have nothing bad to say about him. I’ve seen him struggle a bit lately and there can be many reasons for that. But he took the certificate this spring and was very happy about it. I found him a very enterprising guy.
– Tragic
It was police officers from the Notodden police station who moved to Bolkesjø yesterday afternoon.
The station manager, Helge Folserås, now wants to take over his employees after the serious incident.
– It is tragic when things like this happen and the police have to do those things, Helge Folserås tells Dagbladet.
– Police officers who participated are cared for with the support of a colleague and receive the services they need, says Folserås.
Witness: The man had an ax
The officials involved are questioned.
Folserås cannot say anything about the course of events and refers to the special unit. He has not received any information indicating that the police officers who were working yesterday have been taken out of service.
– We are well prepared for the tasks of society, but this is a very special event for us, says the station manager.