The police have apprehended a person in a vehicle following an armed police operation at the synagogue in Trondheim. A larger perimeter around the building was cordoned off, and the police have been present with substantial resources.
The first reports concerned a person in a vehicle who had behaved suspiciously at the synagogue. It later emerged that the person fled in a stolen car which was driven at high speed onto the E6, and that the police were also searching for a passenger.
– The police have apprehended one person in connection with the incident. We have initiated an investigation, the police write in the police log at 19.21.
– It is an ongoing police operation that many are aware of, since it is visible, but beyond that I cannot say anything right now, says John Arne Moen, head of Det jødiske samfunn Trondheim, to the newspaper Nidaros.
Armed police are on the scene with security equipment, NTB reports. At the outset the police cordoned off the area in front of and behind the synagogue, but at 18.40 the perimeter was expanded.
Operations leader Bjørn Rune Sellgren states that a person left the area by the synagogue in a vehicle and that the police are searching for the vehicle.
– Large police resources are in operation, he writes in the police log.
Adresseavisen was first to report the case, after receiving several tips about an armed police operation at the synagogue. Around 17.45 several police cars and a number of armed police officers appeared, a named witness told the newspaper.
At 18.30 the police issued a press release stating that they were “investigating suspicious behaviour”.
The police have previously stated that they have increased the security level at the synagogue following the attack on the American Embassy in Oslo on 8 March.
Nidaros’ journalist is on the scene, and several persons have attempted to walk past the cordons, but they have been stopped by the police.
PST has been routinely informed, press contact Martin Bernsen tells NTB.
In photographs in the local press one can see police with helmets and bulletproof vests.
The synagogue celebrated its 100th anniversary in October last year.
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