Suspected Mosque Shooter Allegedly Killed Stepsister

Philip Manshaus was seen bruised and smirking in court
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 12, 2019 2:50 PM CDT
Suspected Mosque Shooter Appears Bruised, With a Smirk
Suspected gunman Philip Manshaus appears in court, in Oslo, Norway, Monday, Aug. 12, 2019. He "will use his right not to explain himself for now" in a detention hearing, his defense lawyer said Monday.   (Cornelius Poppen, NTB scanpix via AP)

A Norwegian man suspected of killing his stepsister and then storming an Oslo-area mosque with guns appeared in court Monday with a smirk on his bruised face. Security experts believe Philip Manshaus is the latest example of an extremist who was radicalized by far-right conspiracy theories spread online, particularly the "great replacement" theory, which falsely warns of a "genocide" in which white people are being replaced by immigrants and Muslims. Dagbladet, one of Norway's largest newspapers, reported that on the day of the attack, Manshaus wrote online that he had been "chosen" by "Saint (Brenton) Tarrant," the Christchurch, New Zealand, gunman. Manshaus, 21, was arrested Saturday after entering a mosque in Baerum, where three men were preparing for Sunday's Eid al-Adha celebrations.

One person was slightly wounded before people inside the Al-Noor Islamic Center held the suspect down until police arrived. Police then raided Manshaus' nearby house and found the body of his 17-year-old stepsister, identified Monday as Johanne Zhangjia Ihle-Hansen, who was reportedly adopted from China as a 2-year-old. Manshaus is suspected in her killing, police said. With signs of his struggle still visible in the dark bruises under both eyes and scratches on his face and neck, Manshaus entered a court in Oslo. In a closed-door hearing, he did not admit guilt and asked to be set free, his lawyer told the AP. The court ordered him held in pre-trial detention for four weeks, two of which will be in solitary confinement.

(More gunman stories.)

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