Lakewood City Councilman Don Anderson and his family were visiting a shopping district in Oslo, Norway, when they heard a muffled explosion across the harbor.
Anderson thought it was thunder or a blown power transformer. A German tourist remarked about “Thor being angry” or something similar.
They didn’t know a car bomb had exploded in the Norwegian capital’s government district, killing eight people. About two hours after he detonated the bomb July 22, right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik opened fire and killed 69 more people at a youth camp on a nearby island.
It was unnerving for Anderson and his wife, Nancy, who planned the vacation to visit family members. Joined by their 21-year-old daughter, they had left the United States a week earlier and returned home Aug. 3.
He shared his thoughts at last week’s City Council meeting and in an interview afterward.
“I’m glad to be home, and I hope I don’t have any more of those experiences in my lifetime,” Anderson said.
He got word of the bombing via a text message another daughter sent from the United States 20 minutes after the explosion.
The family witnessed its aftermath after a ferry dropped them in front of Oslo’s city hall. Broken glass – the remnants of blown-out windows from surrounding buildings – was piled in the streets. Officials were cordoning off the area around the parliament building.
Anderson saw police make room for an arriving limousine carrying the prime minister. The visitors from Lakewood watched ambulances and police vehicles speed off to the summer camp.
After his arrest, Breivik confessed to carrying out the attacks and called them “necessary.” The 1,500-page manifesto he sent before the attacks detailed his fears of Islam and its followers and the importance of European nationalism, according to media reports.
Anderson was wary of staying at a tourist hotel near the train station until he learned of Breivik’s arrest. He recalled how shock was followed by relief as Norwegians learned the attacks were the work of one person.
The family joined other Norwegians who paid their respects and lit candles at the Oslo Cathedral the following morning. Four days later, the number of flowers placed in front of the cathedral had grown to cover its entire courtyard.
Anderson served on the Lakewood council during the November 2009 coffee-shop police shootings that took the lives of Sgt. Mark Renninger and officers Ronald Owens, Tina Griswold and Greg Richards.
Though the two mass tragedies had some similarities – an angry lone killer bent on harming authority figures, an outpouring of public mourning – Anderson was struck by the differences.
The police response wasn’t as well-coordinated in Norway, he said. He also was surprised how quickly the political parties used the attack to revive the debate over Norway’s liberal immigration policy.
“It gave me a greater appreciation for our regional law enforcement and our own political debates in this country,” said Anderson, who is running unopposed for his second term in November.
Christian Hill: 253-274-7390
christian.hill@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/street
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