Norway: 16 year old stabbed in youth institution

An 18-year-old boy was immediately arrested after a 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death at a care institution in Romerike in Akershus County. The two youths were residents at the home. The 18-year-old has been charged with homicide but denies committing a crime. "A 16-year-old boy is dead. He was killed by one or more knife wounds," Romerike district police lawyer Mona Hertzenberg told Aftenposten.no. The teen was declared dead at the scene by ambulance personnel. The homicide took place in the early hours of Thursday morning at an institutional home run by the state department for Children, Youths and Families (Bufetat). Bufetat said Thursday that they had a crisis team formed to try and get an overview of the tragedy. Police technicians were working at the crime scene on Thursday and spokesmen said it was too early to determine a possible motive for the stabbing.

The murder suspect is a Norwegian-Pakistani who has been registered in Oslo for the past ten years. The murdered kid is an Eritrean citizen whose mother is living in an asylum center.

The suspect said during police questioning that the conflict between the two had been an ongoing one. According to the suspect's lawyer, Abid Q. Raja, there was no way the authorities didn't know about it and his client did not get the help he needed.

The suspect does not deny the murder, but claims he was being threatened and had no choice. According to him the victim, who had been bullying him for some time due to his short stature, had come to the table. The suspect had grabbed a knife off a fruit plate and told him to stay away, but he insisted on moving forward. At which point he felt he had no choice but to use the knife.

Police do not think the murder had been planned. On the other hand, they do not believe the suspect was in danger.

According to police the motives for the murder were jealousy and a disagreement. The victim had spoken about the suspect's girlfriend in a derogatory manner.

All seven witnesses to the murder had been questioned by police. One of the witnesses is the victim's 17 year old sister.

Sources: Aftenposten (English), Aftenposten 1, 2 (Norwegian)

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