It was around 9.30 on Tuesday that the police and ambulance went to Boots Pharmacy in the center of Arendal following a report of an injured woman who died a short time later.
The police cordoned off a larger area around the pharmacy on the corner of Friholmsgaten and Tollbodgaten.
– It is still too early to say whether it is an accident or an incident of violence, wrote police operations manager Øyvind Hægeland in a message to the press.
The police want to get in touch with witnesses who have been to the Boots pharmacy in the pedestrianized street in Arendal between 9 and 9.25.
The police received a report of an injured person at the pharmacy just before 9.30 on Tuesday morning.
Accident or criminal offence
– Life-saving first aid was attempted, but unfortunately lives could not be saved, says police attorney Vanja Bruvoll in the Agder police district to NTB.
The police cordoned off a larger area around the pharmacy and worked throughout the day interviewing any witnesses.
– We currently do not know whether it is about something punishable or whether it could be an accident, Bruvoll said at 11.30am.
After the police’s forensic technicians had carried out their first investigations at the scene, the dead body was taken to the Forensic Institute in Oslo.
– Then we know more
– The person will undergo an autopsy tomorrow. We will receive the preliminary autopsy report in the course of tomorrow, and then we will know more. For the time being, we still cannot say whether this is one or the other, says police attorney Bruvoll.
She confirms that the police work according to the so-called worst-case theory, i.e. murder, to avoid overlooking or losing traces and evidence that could be decisive if it turns out that the woman is the victim of a criminal offence.
– You can’t say anything more about this today?
– Most likely we can’t, we have to wait for the preliminary autopsy report.
The police prosecutor will not go into exactly where the deceased woman was found, whether she worked in the pharmacy in question or how old she was. Next of kin have been notified.
Bruvoll urges people who have been in the area of the pharmacy between 9 and 9.25 a.m. to contact the police if they have seen anything of interest, or are unsure whether what they have seen is of interest or not.
The pharmacy’s crisis team to Arendal
– This is a terrible tragedy. Our focus now is to take care of those affected, relatives and employees, says managing director Kathrine Mehlin in Boots pharmacy in a press release.
Boots pharmacy has activated its crisis team, which has traveled to Arendal according to Mehlin.
Tags: police investigating deaths Arendal
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