Norway to Probe Police's Slow Massacre Response

Norway's prime minister today announced the launch of a probe into why it took police so long to respond to Anders Behring Breivik's attack on the Utoya island camp, reports the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Police have been battered by increasing criticism over the fact that it took them an hour to get to the scene; they acknowledge the lack of an available helicopter and police boat engine problems contributed to the delay. One parents also reported that police didn't believe his emergency call, telling him, "Get your children to call us themselves."

Police officials defended their response to the attack. "They were extremely solid and showed much courage right down the line," said a police commander. But the prime minister emphasized that the probe was not intended to attack the police, but to "map out what functioned well and what functioned less well." (More Norway terror attack stories.)