Norway police
Norway policeiStock

The man who killed five people in a bow-and-arrow attack in Norway this week has been handed over to health services amid speculation he may have mental health issues, the prosecution said Friday, according to AFP.

"He was handed over to health services on Thursday evening after an evaluation of his health condition," prosecutor Ann Iren Svane Mathiassen told the news agency.

Doubts have arisen about the mental health of the man identified as Danish citizen Espen Andersen Brathen, and whether he can be held legally responsible for the attack.

He has confessed to the killings. A psychiatric evaluation began on Thursday, which was expected to take up to several months.

Meanwhile, a judge was to decide later Friday whether to hold Brathen in detention. The prosecution has asked for him to be held for four weeks, the first two in isolation.

On Thursday, local police chief Ole Bredrup Sæverud said that Brathen had converted to Islam and was previously known to the police.

The suspect is a 37-year-old Danish citizen who was living in Norway, and is believed to have acted alone, CNN reported.

Authorities said the attacker broke into some of his victims' homes and killed them there, with people seemingly randomly targeted.

While police have said the attack was probably an act of terror, authorities have not ruled out the possibility of mental health problems.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)