Man who stormed mosque 'armed with shotguns' was inspired by Christchurch and El Paso attackers, messaging board post suggests

Post urged others to continue 'race war' and praised other attackers

The alleged gunman who launched a suspected terror attack on a mosque in Norway was inspired by the Christchurch, Poway and El Paso shooters, online records suggest.

The suspect has not been officially identified by police but was named in reports as Philip Manshaus, a 21-year-old local man.

Hours before the attack at the at the al-Noor Islamic Centre in Bærum in Saturday, a user of the same name posted on the Endchan messaging board.

“Well cobbers [friends] it’s my time, I was elected by [Christchurch mosque attacker] saint Tarrant after all,” it said. “We can’t let this go on.”

The post appeared to call for readers to enact their online posts about a race war “irl” – in real life – and said they had been personally “elected” for the task.

It directed readers to a livestream on Facebook - which was used to broadcast the Christchurch attack - but said it did not work.

The Facebook page, which has been deleted, listed Oslo as Manshaus's hometown and displayed likes including a page called "NO to sex, YES to Jesus", which is thought to be satirical.

The Endchan post, which has also been removed, included a link to photos that appeared to show Manshaus through his childhood and more recently.

They appeared to match a photo of a Philip Manshaus who appeared aged 17 in a in a Norwegian news article dating from 2015, which detailed a literature campaign at the Oslo by Steinerskole school.

The post was signed off with: “It’s been fun, valhall venter [Valhalla awaits].”

It included a meme that described the Christchurch gunman, who massacred 51 Muslims at mosques in March, as a “saint” and praised his statements and manifesto.

It then described an American man who killed a Jewish woman at a synagogue in Poway, San Diego, as Tarrant’s “first disciple”.

The same image depicted the alleged El Paso shooter Patrick Crusius, who is accused of killing 22 victims in a terror attack targeting the Hispanic community, and praised him for “reclaiming his country”.

All three alleged shooters made last posts on the unmoderated messaging board 8chan, where they all shared “manifestos” seeking to inspire further white supremacist attacks.

8chan was shut down in the wake of the El Paso shooting on 3 August, amid heavy criticism of security services for allegedly overlooking the threat posed by the website and increasingly international character of far-right terrorism.

Photos of 'Philip Manshaus' were linked from a 4chan post made shortly before the shooting

Users have flocked to other websites and encrypted messaging services in its wake, and 4chan and Endchan initially remained online.

Both sites have their own “politically incorrect” /pol/ board, which was used by all four alleged shooters for their final posts.

Peter Neumann, founder of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King's College London, said that while removing extremists from mainstream platforms like Facebook and Twitter slashes their audience, “channers” find new homes.

“As predicted, taking down 8chan didn't have a long lasting effect, and people fairly quickly migrated to other platforms,” he told The Independent.

“Those forums are pretty niche to begin with, so it's not like they're exposing many innocent people to their stuff. They're more or less self-selected so I suspect the disruptive value is minimal.”

Writing on Twitter, Endchan's administrators said they took the image board offline temporarily in the wake of the shooting.

"It has been decided the site will stay up," they added on Sunday.

Witnesses said the Norway gunman was tackled to the ground by a 65-year-old worshipper who had been one of three men in the mosque.

The al-Noor Islamic Centre mosque in Sandvika, Norway on 11 August (REUTERS)

The attacker, who was reportedly wearing a uniform and body armour, broke through a glass door to reach the place of worship, where people were preparing to celebrate the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha.

Police said several gunshots were fired and are investigating the shooting as a potential terror attack.

They have arrested a local white man in his 20s on suspicion of attempted murder.

The same man is also accused of killing his 17-year-old stepsister, whose body was found at her home.

“We're investigating this as an attempt at carrying out an act of terrorism,” assistant chief of police Rune Skjold told a news conference on Sunday morning.

“We have uncovered extreme right-wing attitudes. The defendant has expressed opinions in which he praises [Norwegian fascist and Nazi collaborator] Quisling and is hostile towards immigration.”

Mr Skjold praised the “great courage” shown by two worshippers who tackled the gunman, adding: “There is no doubt that their efforts prevented this from having entirely different consequences.”

The suspect remains in custody and is undergoing a psychiatric assessment, officials said.

Editor's note: An early version of the story stated that the suspect's post was made on 4chan, but a full archive that later became available showed it was on a messaging board of a similar format called Endchan. The article has been updated.