Norway mosque attack suspect charged with terror and murder

Philip Manshaus is accused of storming a mosque in an Oslo suburb over the summer after murdering his step-sister

22-year-old Philip Manshaus (C), who faces terror charges, appears with his lawyer Audun Beckstrom (L) for a court session in Oslo on January 6, 2020, to extend his pretrial detention AFP

A Norwegian man, suspected of killing his step-sister and then mounting an armed attack against an Olso mosque, has been charged with murder and committing an act of terror.

Philip Manshaus, who tried to storm the Al Noor Mosque with a hunting rifle and shotgun with the plan “to kill as many Muslims as possible", was formally charged on Monday.

The 22-year-old is suspected of killing his 17-year-old step-sister, Johanne Zhangjia Ihle-Hansen, by shooting her four times with a hunting rifle at their home in the Oslo suburb of Baerum.

The Norwegian daily newspaper Aftenposten reported Manshaus had said he wanted to kill his step-sister because of her Asian origin.

The suspect’s attempts to carry out an attack on the mosque were ultimately thwarted.

He drove to the mosque, not far from the house where he is suspected to have killed his step-sister, where three men were preparing for Eid Al Adha.

He wore a helmet with a video camera attached and a bulletproof vest, according to the indictment against him.

Manshaus allegedly fired four shots with the rifle at a glass door before he was overpowered by Muhammad Rafiq, one of the worshippers in the mosque.

During the confrontation, the suspected gunman fired two more shots but no one was hit.

Manshaus has been described as mentally fit for the trial to go ahead and has reportedly accepted the facts of the case but has not accepted the criminal charges.

His trial is scheduled to start on May 7 in Oslo.