Norway Massacre

This is the second instalment in our 23-item countdown of the Biggest Moments of the Year. Each day until the Friday before Christmas, we’ll be counting down the events that marked 2011. Our list contains moments from politics, pop culture, tragedy, sport and more. This is one of the moments that had all of us talking this year.

What happened
On July 22, Andres Behring Breivik, 32, massacred 77 people and injured 151 in a pair of terrorist attacks on Norwegian officials and civilians. First, Breivik planted a car bomb in Oslo’s executive government district near the Prime Minister’s office. The bomb killed 8 and the PM escaped unharmed. Less than two hours later, Breivik arrived at the island of Utøya where a camp for Labour Party youth was being held. Posing as a police officer, he gunned down scores of people.

There was no light in the darkness of this story. The New York Times reported: “As soon as the shooting started… people panicked, running in all directions, tumbling down the island’s rocky hill in an attempt to reach the sea. Even after many made it into the water, the gunman calmly and methodically shot at those who were swimming.”

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