Norwegian man arrested for killing police officer charged with murder, attempted murder

A 44-year-old Norwegian man arrested for the fatal stabbing of a 32-year-old off-duty police officer in a bar fight, as well as for injuring a second man with a knife, appeared before a Thessaloniki public prosecutor on Friday and was charged with one count of murder and one count of attempted murder, as well as two lesser charges of illegal weapons possession and use for the palm knife that he used to stab his victims.

The suspect was also taken before Thessaloniki's 4th regular examining magistrate and given until noon on Saturday to prepare his testimony, while he will remain in custody until that time.

His lawyer conveyed the suspect's condolences to the police officer's family, saying that he had not intended to kill anyone, while attributing his actions to drunkenness and mental health issues for which he claims to receive support from the Norwegian state. The accused has asked the examining magistrate to request an expert opinion regarding his state of mental health.

According to the case file, the incident occurred in the early hours of Thursday morning in a bar where all three individuals were customers and started with an argument over the differences between Norway and Greece. The Norwegian initially attacked the police officer's friend with a knife, which he claimed to always carry for self-defence, and stabbed him in the thigh, then used the same knife to inflict a fatal blow on the 32-year-old officer when he attempted to intervene. The police officer died almost instantly due to massive bleeding from a punctured artery in the left side of his neck.