The brutal attack took place on Dronningens Gate in the center of the Norwegian town of Narvik. The 85-year old man later died of the injuries he suffered as a result of the brutal assault.
Local media first reported that the killer was an asylum-seeker from Africa, but this descripton was later changed to the more vague “foreigner».
Before the attack, the assailant, who local media first described as a man in his 30’s and of African descent, got into the passenger seat of a strangers car in the center of Narvik. The driver told him to get out, and he left the car.
After the african left the car he walked down the sidewalk along the street Dronningens Gate. There he met the 85 year old Eilif Edmund Rolv Schjødt. whom he unprovoked and without warning punched in the face. The 85-year old, who had been out to buy a pizza, collapsed on the ground with serious injuries.
The police said that the 85-year old, who was in good health, broke his shoulder as a result of the violence. They refused to comment further on the death, according to the newspaper Fremover.
The unprovoked attack took place on Sunday, and the following Thursday the 85-year old man died in the hospital from the injuries he suffered.
A person who witnessed the deadly violence, was along with a driver who was passing by, able to detain the African man by holding him down until police and paramedics arrived at the site.
Released by the police
The 30-year old who is currently living in a small town named Tysfjord, was first arrested by police but then released. However, after the 85-year old died, the African was arrested again. He has now been remanded for four weeks.
He is charged with grevious bodily harm resulting in the elderly man’s death, and he can risk up to ten years in prison.
The African, of possible Somali origin, is not previously known to the police and does not have a criminal record in Norway. He has pleaded guilty. He was also intoxicated at the time of the attack.
It is still unclear whether the African asylum seeker belongs to Skistua mottak, an asylum centre in Narvik run by the commercial organisation Hero.
National media remain silent about the killer’s background
Neither of the big national newspapers VG, Dagbladet, Aftenposten, NRK or the national newsagency, NTB, has chosen to inform their readers of the killer’s ethnic background. The local newspaper Fremover are referring to the killer as a «foreigner» in their articles. An observant reader have informed us that the newspaper first included a detailed description of the man’s ethnic background, but this was later changed to a more general description.
