Masked men with guns robbed women at a party in Sandefjord

The message was that two masked men armed with firearms robbed 15 women at a party.

– The women had been robbed of phones, money and jewellery. The perpetrators had left the scene on foot and a witness had seen them get into a car not far from the scene.

Operations manager Jan Christian Johnsrud says there have been major communication problems.

– None of them speak Norwegian or English well, but we have this information from several of them who were at the scene, so we have no doubt that this has happened.

Only women were present at the party, which was held in a private residence in Sandefjord. Johnsrud says the police are waiting for an interpreter to start proper interrogations.

– No one has been arrested, and no one has been given the role of suspect, says operations manager in the South East police district, Roger Aaser, to VG at 07.18 on Sunday morning.

Many must be interrogated

– There were many there, and many who will therefore be questioned.

– Have you found any weapons?

– No we have not.

Johnsrud says the case is special and that they believe the robbers must have known about the party. He says the police will try to find video images, including from cars in the area.

– Otherwise, we have a bit to go after, but we can’t go into detail about that at the moment.

The police have finished their work at the scene just after 07.15.

– Now the more practical part of questioning and further investigation remains. There is a lot we need to clarify here, such as whether there has been a pretext or whether this has been a random robbery, says Aaser.

I don’t think it’s a danger to others

He says the home where the incident happened was a semi-detached house. There were several registered residents at the address, but only the woman who lives there was present.

– Is there a danger to others in the area?

– No, we don’t think so.

The police received a report of the robbery at 02:50.

Mayor: – Sad

Mayor of Sandefjord, Bjørn Ole Gleditsch (H), says the municipality has so far not been connected to the case.

– I expect that we will be connected and that the police will possibly pass on the need if it is necessary, he says to VG.

The mayor himself became aware of the case through the media.

– Unfortunately, there is a lot of increasing crime in Norway these days, and it does not surprise me that there are new creative ways of carrying out the crime, says Gleditsch.

He thinks nothing of what has happened in his own municipality.

– This is not good, and of course not something we want. We want a safe society, and it is sad that someone is exposed to something like this.

The mayor hopes the police will catch the responsible perpetrator as quickly as possible.

– I hope the police get hold of them, it’s not nice that they get loose. I have consideration for the dramatic situation that the 15 involved have been exposed to, says Gleditsch.