The suspect is a Norwegian citizen originally from Somalia. The mosque congregation notified police when the man arrived due to his odd behavior. Police kept the suspect under surveillance for several hours before making the arrest. He is currently charged with willful murder.
"The arrest was undramatic. He said little but he appeared to understand why he was being arrested. He had changed the style of his hair and beard since the descriptions of him at the scene on Tuesday," said police superintendent Finn Abrahamsen.
The previous Friday the suspect was released from a psychiatric polyclinic where he had been receiving treatment for three days. Police still did not know if the 40-year-old had been admitted for psychiatric treatment before.
Mohammud Aden, superintendent of the Tawfiiq Islamic Center where the Somalian was arrested, said that when the man arrived they suspected he might be the one wanted by police since he was known to be "a bit mentally unstable".
Police were certain they had the right man after his fingerprints matched those found at the murder scene.
The county medical office for Oslo and Akershus has summoned management at Ullevål University Hospital's psychiatric division for a meeting Thursday.
"We will start with a clean sheet and hope that the briefing will be able to answer how the health service has treated the person concerned. We will also go through the journals," said acting county medical officer Helge Worren to Norwegian news agency NTB.
The 55-year-old man stabbed in the stomach and chest in the tram attack is still in critical condition. The other critical case, a 37-year-old woman who received chest wounds, is now in serious but stable condition. A 31-year-old policeman who was stabbed in the chest and should was doing well on Wednesday.
