As Norway Weeps, Shooter Says He Acted Alone

Hundreds gather for memorial service
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 24, 2011 12:43 PM CDT
As Norway Weeps, Shooter Says He Acted Alone
A hearse is seen at Utoya island, Norway, Sunday, July 24, 2011.   (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Reeling Norwegians gathered today to honor the 93 lives lost in Friday's murderous rampage, with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg telling weeping mourners that even "in the middle of all this tragedy," Norway is a nation that will "stand together." "Soon we will be given the names and pictures of those who have died, and then the size and scale of this cruelty will become apparent," he said, calling the two days since the attacks, "an eternity—hours, days, and nights filled with shock and angst and crying." Hundreds attended the memorial service at Oslo Cathedral, including King Harald V and his wife Queen Sonja, reports the LA Times. Click through the gallery for scenes from the service and beyond.

Suspected shooter Anders Behring Breivik, meanwhile, was continuing to cooperate with police, reports the BBC, telling them that he acted alone in both attacks, which he characterized as "gruesome but necessary." A police spokesman said police weren't seeking a second shooter, but that they "must verify everything that he said," because witness statements indicated Breivik had help. The max sentence Breivik could face is 21 years in jail, the spokesman confirmed. That is not a typo. (More Norway stories.)

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