Norway Gunman Yelled 'You Must All Die'

A man who was shot in the shoulder at point-blank range by a gunman who killed more than 80 people on Utoya island in Norway has told Sky News how he played dead to survive.

At least 84 people, many of them teenagers, were killed when a man dressed as a police officer opened fire as a youth meeting of the ruling Labour Party took place on the island.

It came 90 minutes after car bomb exploded near government buildings in Oslo, killing at least seven people.

Adrian Pracon said after hearing about the deadly blast in the capital, an emergency meeting had been organised at the summer camp on Utoya.

Speaking by phone from his hospital bed, he told Sky: "We had set up an emergency meeting room to help and we got very happy when we heard that one policeman was on his way to supervise us and to help us.

"Suddenly I heard shots but I didn't realise at first that they were shots. Then I saw people running and falling when they got shot - just right in front of me.

"I still didn't realise it was real because I thought that this cannot happen in Norway, it can't happen on this wonderful, peaceful island."

Mr Pracon told how he fled with many of the others through the woods and into the freezing water but after swimming a few hundred metres turned back to the shore.

"I felt that I had to turn back because I was facing certain death if I swam any further.

"While I was swimming back, he came onto the shore, on that cliff, and started shooting at people that were trying to swim. He was shooting with a sort of machine gun.

"He was yelling out that he was going to kill us all and that we all must die.

"He pointed the gun at me as I approached the shore. With what air I had left in my lungs instead of water, I screamed to him, 'Please no, please'.

"I don't know if he had some sympathy or if he just didn't like to kill one person instead of a group but he spared me at that moment."

But moments later, as Mr Pracon huddled with about 10 or 20 other people at the edge of the water waiting for help, the gunman returned.

"He started shooting out of nowhere. People were falling down and I started hiding behind the bodies," said Mr Pracon.

"He approached and stood one metre above me, I could feel him breathing and I could feel his boots and I could definitely feel the shot - right in my back.

"I was laying on a rock just big enough for my upper body, my legs and the rest of my body was still under water.

"I was lying face down as he approached and took a shot at me to see if I was dead. Fortunately I didn't move when I got hit so he thought I was dead."

Mr Pracon lay on the rock for almost an hour, applying pressure to his wound by pushing his shoulder into the rock to stem the flow of blood before he could be helped.

He told Sky: "He [the gunman] was speaking in Norwegian and I was thinking this can't be real because Norwegian people don't attack Norway - why should they? But now we have proof that that's possible."

He added: "In this youth party we are all friends, we all know each other somehow - some for years. My friends were shot and killed in front of me, this is a horrible thing and I still can't believe why this is happening to young people."

Referring to his injury, Mr Pracon said: "It's not the physical wounds that are hurting me, it's actually the loss of all my dear friends and colleagues."

Around 600 people were believed to be taking part in the summer camp - most of whom were teenagers aged between 14 and 18.

Jorgen Benone was also among those on the island and saw people being shot by the man dressed as a police officer.

"People were wondering, what's happening?... Then people began understanding that people had been shot," he said.

"People started jumping out of windows, running everywhere, all directions - they were terrified for their life.

"Most people ran towards the water, hiding behind stones... They guy was dressed like a policeman.

"It was total chaos, people were jumping into the water trying to swim to the other side."

Another survivor, 19-year-old Emilie Bersaas, told how dozens of screaming children ran for their lives after the gunman began shooting.

"I saw a lot of people running and screaming so I ran to the nearest building and hid under a bed," she said.

"The shooting came from all different directions."