An armed man stole an ambulance in Oslo on Tuesday, Oct. 22, injuring five people including two babies when he drove off and hit a family, Norwegian police and hospital officials told Reuters.
The man was apprehended after police fired shots at the vehicle, although the suspect was not critically injured, the police said in a separate statement.
“Two babies were injured after the hijacked ambulance hit a family. They are twins, seven months old, they are being treated,” an Oslo University hospital spokesman told Reuters.
Public broadcaster NRK showed images of an ambulance driving in the Torshov neighborhood of Oslo while several gunshots rang out.
Anders Bayer, a spokesman for Oslo University Hospital, confirmed three employees on the vehicle when it was stolen were unharmed. The ambulance was stolen around 12.30 p.m. local time (6.30 a.m. ET) and police took control of the vehicle some 15 minutes later.
“We are in control of the ambulance that was stolen,” Oslo police tweeted.“One was hijacked by an armed person with a shotgun. Some minutes later one of our other ambulances managed to stop the hijacked vehicle by crashing into it. Then the police came after the crash and got him,” he said.
Police declined to comment on whether the incident was being treated as a deliberate attack.
“An armed man stole an ambulance, drove away and hit some people. We got him now,” the police spokesman told Reuters.
A witness told the newspaper that he saw “the ambulance driving at high speed toward me ... and right behind a police car.”
“I heard several shots,” Omar Khatujev told Aftenposten.
