A man armed with a bow and arrows killed several people and wounded others near the Norwegian capital of Oslo before he was arrested, authorities said.

The police chief in the town of Kongsberg announced the deaths at a news conference.

“The man who carried out the act has been arrested by the police, and there is no active search for more people.

“Based on the information we have, there is one person behind this,” police vhief Oeying Aas said.

Police at the scene (Hakon Mosvold Larsen/AP)
Police at the scene (Hakon Mosvold Larsen/AP)

He said there were several deaths but did not offer any details.

Police were alerted to the attack around 6:30pm and arrested the suspect about 20 minutes later.

The community is 41 miles southwest of Oslo.

According to police, the suspect walked around the city shooting at people with arrows.

The man has not been questioned yet, and his motive was unknown, Mr Aas said.