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Norway prepares for possible school shooting

NTB/The Local
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Norway prepares for possible school shooting
File photo of a 2012 training exercise in which police responded to a mock school shooting in Oslo. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB scanpix

The Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection has pointed to two new risks for Norway: school shootings and food-borne infections.

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In its National Risk assessment released on Monday, the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB) took an in-depth look at the nation's ability to respond to a school shooting or an outbreak of a food-borne infection. 
 
“There haven’t been any cases of school shootings in Norway but we have had outbreaks of food-borne and waterborne infections. We must be prepared and the analyses give us a good foundation,” Justice Minister Anders Anundsen said in response to the new report. 
 
Schools, the health care system and the police have all taken measures against a possible school shooting, DSB said in its report. 
 
“The analysis points out that systematic work toward an inclusive learning environment, bullying prevention measures, good psychosocial services and cooperation between local emergency plans are all helping to reduce the risk of a school shooting in this country,” DSB head Cecilie Daae said. 
 
“Schools must have an emergency plan in place for school shootings and it must be practised. It is also important that teachers, school health officials and other relevant actors are given the necessary knowledge about school shootings and the typical perpetrator,” she added. 
 
DSB did a risk analysis on a possible shooting at a high school in a small Norwegian community. The agency pointed out possible measures that schools, municipalities, counties and central authorities can undertake in order to reduce the risks. 
 
The risk of food-borne infection was also analysed in the new DSB report. It included a scenario in which a serious outbreak of E. coli sickened daycare children and the elderly and looked at the national authorities’ ability to handle the situation. 
 
In total, there were 22 possible scenarios included in the updated version of the risk assessment. Among the other scenarios were terror attacks, cyber attacks, a volcano eruption on Iceland and earthquakes. 
 
 

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