Iranian-Born Norwegian Man Charged with Aggravated Terrorism for 2022 Oslo Pride Shooting

Zainar Matapour, 44, fired 18 shots into a crowd of 560 people, killing two and wounding nine, before being arrested by bystanders; four other suspects linked to the attack remain under investigation, with two currently outside Norway.

• Zainar Matapour, a 44-year-old Iranian-born Norwegian, has been charged with aggravated terrorism for a shooting at the 2022 Oslo Pride festival, where he fired 18 shots into a crowd of 560 people, killing two and wounding nine.
• Before the attack, Matapour took an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State group, and the attack caused significant fear among the public, leading to the cancellation of a Pride parade due to security concerns.
• Matapour was arrested shortly after the shooting by bystanders and has since refused to speak to investigators.
• Four other suspects are linked to the shooting, but have not been charged as the investigation is ongoing. Two of these suspects are currently outside Norway, with one being a leading Norwegian radical Islamist hiding in Pakistan.
• Matapour, who arrived in Norway with his family from a Kurdish part of Iran in the 1990s, is scheduled to stand trial in March. If found guilty, he faces a 30-year prison sentence.
• The shooting has shocked Norway, a country with a relatively low crime rate but a history of lone wolf attacks, including one of the worst mass shootings in Europe in 2011 by a right-wing extremist.

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