Two dead and 21 injured in shooting at gay bar in Oslo as police charge gunman with terrorism

TWO people have been killed and multiple others injured in a shooting at a gay bar in Oslo with police charging the alleged gunman with terrorism.

Ten people were rushed to hospital, with three of them in a serious condition and 12 more were treated at the scene, police said.

A 42-year-old man has been charged with murder, attempted murder and terrorist acts after he opened fire in three different locations.

The man who is known to the authorities, is a Norwegian citizen, originally from Iran.

Security services have raised the terror threat level in Norway in the wake of the attack.

PST acting chief Roger Berg called the attack an "extreme Islamist terror act" and said the suspect had a long history of violence and threats as well as mental health issues.

He said PST first became aware of the suspect in 2015 and later became concerned that he had become radicalized and was part of an unspecified Islamist network.

Cops were notified of the shooting at the London Club at 1.15am local time (12.15am BST) and arrested the alleged gunman five minutes later, according to .

The suspect is believed to have acted alone and was known to the authorities, NRK reported.

It is believed he may have been radicalised prior to the incident.

Chief of police and prosecutor Christian Hatlo said police seized two weapons - an automatic rifle and a handgun.

He added that police will investigate whether the suspect is mentally stable.

"Our overall assessment is that there are grounds to believe that he wanted to cause grave fear in the population,"; Hatlo said.

Norwegian security forces are reported to have interviewed the suspect back in May following certain statements they made.

However, local media quotes authorities are saying he showed no intention of violence at the time.

Pictures overnight showed bloodied clubbers receiving treatment in the street and a long line of ambulances and police cars.

Olav Roenneberg, a journalist from Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, said he witnessed the shooting.

He told NRK: "I saw a man arrive at the site with a bag. He picked up a weapon and started shooting.

"First I thought it was an air gun. Then the glass of the bar next door was shattered and I understood I had to run for cover.

Another witness, Marcus Nybakken, 46, said he saw a lot of people running and screaming and thought it was a fist fight.

"But then I heard that it was a shooting and that there was someone shooting with a submachine gun," Nybakken told Norwegian broadcaster TV2.

The attack came hours before the city’s scheduled Pride events.

Today's festivities have been cancelled in the wake of the mass shooting.

However, festival-goers were seen gathering in protest in Grønlandspark.

Police are investigating whether there were further attacks planned during Pride festivities, or whether there may have been other motives for the attack.

Oslo’s police Twitter account posted: “Several shots were fired at a nightclub in the centre... There are injured people.

"Several people shot. Two people have been confirmed dead in the shooting episode.

"There are several seriously injured. The police defined the mission as a PLIVO incident."

Witnesses said the bar was packed with revellers and there were between 10-20 shots fired.

One witness told local media: “I saw a man come in with a bag, he took out a weapon and started shooting.”

Norway's BNN Newsroom tweeted: "The police ask people in the area to move away, to make room for ambulances."

Oslo University Hospital has been put on red alert due to the incident, VG reports.

Footage from the scene shows paramedics treating a man with a head wound.

The man winces as the medic shifts his hair to access his wound, which has led to bleeding across his face.

Other images show streets surrounding the club blocked off by police cars and ambulances and officers appearing to survey the area for evidence.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere branded the attack "terrible and deeply shocking".