In addition to the naked gunman, a man wearing a National Guard uniform (without having any actual connection with the military unit) and a woman with a camera were arrested, only to be subsequently released. The culprits were all ethnic Norwegians aged 22-37 with no previous police record.
"This is serious, illegal and costly. It is likely that those involved will receive a bill for what they did," Cathrine Thiis Evensen of Drammen Police told Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang, explaining that the option of charging the culprits for intimidation was considered.
Remarkably, the whole incident turned out to be a quirky "internet" performance. The episode, in which the naked man tried to stop motorists and demanded to see their license and registration with what looked like a real weapon, was filmed on the spot and sent directly to private groups on Facebook, where hundreds of people followed the broadcast, which also included the arrest.
Torgeir Waterhouse, internet and new media director at ICT Norge, told Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet that the incident in Sande so far was one of a kind in Norway. However, posting illegal activities on Facebook has become even more popular given the option of its Live feature. Facebook is said to receive about a million complaints about explicit photos and videos each week. With Facebook Live, sharing illicit content became even faster.
"They are living in a bubble. They think it's a game and fail to understand the seriousness of playing with other people's lives," Torgeir Waterhouse told Dagbladet.
At the same time, Waterhouse made it clear that abolishing options like live streaming is virtually impossible.
"You cannot outlaw pens on the grounds that someone writes bad things about others," Waterhouse said.
