Sniper targets teen asylum-seekers in Norway

Sniper targets teen asylum-seekers in Norway

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  Story Highlights
  Police say gunman fires at a Norwegian center for teenage asylum seekers
  Gunman used heavy caliber weapon and fired from long range, police say
  16-year-old Somali boy was seriously wounded
  Police helicopters and sniffer dogs searching for the shooter

ASKER, Norway (AP) -- Several shots were fired at a center for teenage asylum-seekers in Norway on Friday, and a 16-year-old Somali boy was seriously wounded, police said.

Police believe the shots were fired from long range, with a "heavy-caliber" weapon, police spokesman Einaar Aas said, without giving further details.

The boy was in his bed on the top floor of a two-story Hvalstad asylum center in Asker, outside Oslo, when a bullet pierced the wooden wall and hit him in the stomach, asylum center director Ahmed Bozgil told The Associated Press.

Aas said the boy was in critical condition at an Oslo hospital and would undergo surgery.

"It's to early to speculate about motives, but we are taking this very seriously," Aas said. Violence against refugees is rare in Norway, but an influx of immigrants recently has led to calls for tighter immigration controls.

It was unclear exactly how many rounds hit the building in the 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) shooting.
"It's the first time we have had any serious incidents like this here," Bozgil said. He said there were 121 youths from 13 countries at the center at the time of the shooting, but only the 16-year-old was hit.

Police helicopters and sniffer dogs searched the area for suspects, but no arrests had been made by Friday afternoon, the police spokesman said.

Last year about 6,000 asylum-seekers sought refuge in the Scandinavian country, and the number is expected to more than double this year.

The biggest numbers are coming from Iraq, Eritrea, Russia and Somalia.

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