Suburban Norwegians still in shock over attacks
The shock and sadness felt around the world after Friday's deadly attacks in Norway are cutting particularly deep for Norwegians now living in the suburbs.
Deer Park resident Kari Diesen-Dahl said the tragedy was the main topic of conversation during services at her Norwegian church in Chicago on Sunday.
“It was on everyone's mind. We said special prayers about it,” Diesen-Dahl said. “So many were asking why God would allow something like to happen. It's bewildering and shocking to all of us.”
More than 90 people were killed in a massive bombing in the Norwegian city of Oslo and a subsequent shooting spree on nearby Utoya Island. A 32-year-old Norwegian man, Anders Behring Breivik, is the suspect in both attacks and is in custody.
The Oslo bombing has been compared to the 1995 attack in Oklahoma City. The Utoya Island shootings targeted young people participating in a political summer camp there.
“Our country is known for being peaceful,” said Diesen-Dahl, who grew up about 90 minutes from Oslo. “It's hard to understand a tragedy like this happening there.”
Lake Forest resident Mette Bowen, president of the Midwest chapter of the Norwegian-American Chamber of Commerce, grew up just blocks from the bombing site. She said her father used to take her to Utoya Island when she was a child.
“It's very personal for me, as I think it is for the entire Norwegian community here,” she said. “That something like this could happen at home, and be perpetrated by a Norwegian national, is just devastating.”
Bowen said she's talked to family and friends in Norway about the attacks, and all broke into tears when discussing it.
“It's horribly, horribly sad, and so senseless. Everyone's hoping that nothing like this happens again,” she said.