Norway's prime minister announced an independent review on Wednesday tasked with drawing lessons from last week's massacre as it emerged that police efforts to apprehend the gunman were hit by engine trouble. Amid growing criticism over why it took officers so long to halt a killing spree by Anders Behring Breivik that left 76 dead, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg vowed that a commission of inquiry would get to the truth.
Police have already acknowledged they did not arrive on the island until an hour after being told about the shooting as there was no helicopter available. But the controversy over the response time deepened when it was revealed at a police press conference that officers racing to the island had to requisition two civilian boats as their own vessel had engine problems.
Haavard Gaasbakk, the commander of the police team that detained Behring Breivik, told journalists that his men deserved praise. "They were extremely solid and showed much courage right down the line," Gaasbakk told journalists. Another officer did not say how long the initial delay was but stressed that the team "gained 10 minutes" by using the civilian boats instead of their own troubled vessel.
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