Foreign Affairs

Armed Man Steals Ambulance, Hits Baby And Elderly Couple Before Police Fire On Him

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An armed man reportedly stole an ambulance before running down and injuring at least two people in the Norwegian capital of Oslo Tuesday.

Police opened fire on the suspect, injuring him and halting his deadly joy ride through the Torshov neighborhood of Oslo, The Associated Press reported. Those struck and injured by the vehicle reportedly included a woman with two babies in a stroller as well as an elderly couple, according to Reuters.

“Two babies were injured after the hijacked ambulance hit a family. They are twins, seven months old, they are being treated,” Anders Bayer, spokesman for Oslo University Hospital, told Reuters.

The injuries were reportedly light, according to Reuters.

The ambulance was reportedly stolen at approximately 12:30 p.m., and police regained control of the vehicle 15 minutes later, according to CNN.

The ambulance was hijacked by an armed suspect who commandeered the vehicle from three hospital employees responding to a routine traffic accident, Bayer confirmed to Norwegian news media outlet NTB, according to the AP.

“We are in control of an ambulance that was stolen by an armed man,” Oslo police tweeted Tuesday. “Shots were fired to stop the perpetrator, he is not critically injured. Update will come.”

#Oslo Vi har kontroll på en ambulanse som ble stjålet, av en bevæpnet mann. Det ble avfyrt skudd for å stanse gjerningsmannen, han er ikke kritisk skadd. Oppdatering vil komme.

— OPS Politiet Oslo (@oslopolitiops) October 22, 2019

A second ambulance from the hospital reportedly stopped the hijacked ambulance by crashing into it, just before police arrived and apprehending the suspect.

“Some minutes later one of our other ambulances managed to stop the hijacked vehicle by crashing into it. Then the police came after the crash and got him,” Bayer said.

A witness to the incident, Omar Khatujev, told Norway’s Aftenposten newspaper he saw “the ambulance driving at high speed toward me … and right behind a police car.”

“I heard several shots,” he continued.

Oslo police said there is nothing to connect the incident to terrorism.

“There is nothing to indicate that this incident is terrorism related,” Oslo police operations leader Erik Hestvik told the press, according to Reuters.