Three people were killed and several others injured in a shooting at a shopping center in Copenhagen on Sunday, Danish police said, after they arrested a 22-year-old Danish man and charged him with murder.
The attack shook Denmark on an otherwise blissful weekend, right after hosting the first three stages of the Tour de France cycle race. The incident sent thousands of enthusiastic Danes on the streets across the country.
Prime Minister Mette Fredriksson said in a statement late Sunday: “Denmark was hit by a brutal attack on Sunday night. Many people were killed. Even more were injured. Innocent families were shopping or eating out. Children, teenagers and Adult.”
“Our beautiful and usually so safe capital was replaced in a second,” she said. “I want to encourage Danes to stand together and support each other during this difficult time.”
Copenhagen police said armed officers were sent to the capital’s field mall on Sunday afternoon after news of the shootings and people inside were told to stay and wait for help. Local media footage showed groups of panicked shoppers running away from the mall.
The suspect was apprehended with a rifle and ammunition at 5:48 pm local time. The police launched a massive search operation in the entire local area in the early hours of Sunday in search of any accomplices.
“We’re going to have a huge investigation and a massive operational presence in Copenhagen until we can say for sure: he was alone,” Thomson said.
Thomson said the shooter had killed a man and two “young people”, a man and a woman, in their forties. Several more were injured, and the condition of three of them remains critical.
He said the investigation so far does not point to any racist motives or otherwise, but that could change.
Copenhagen Police will hold a press briefing at 8:00 a.m. local time on Monday.
The capital’s main hospital, the Rigshospitalet, had received “a small group of patients” for treatment, a spokesman said on Sunday evening, and had called in additional doctors and nurses.
danish tabloid bt published unverified video footage It said a witness to the attack, Mahdi al-Wazhi, shot a man walking into the mall with a large rifle and carrying it around his shoulders.
“He seemed very aggressive and was shouting different things,” said al-Wazni. bt,
Footage published by tabloids spare blade A man is shown being carried in an ambulance on a stretcher by rescue workers.
Rikke Lewandowski, an eyewitness, told the broadcaster: “People first thought it was a thief… TV2,
“He’s just shooting in the crowd, not in the ceiling or on the floor,” she said.
The multi-storey shopping mall is located approximately 5 kilometers south of the city of Copenhagen.
“My friends and I… all of a sudden we hear shots. I hear about ten shots and then run as fast as we can to the toilet. We squeeze into this little toilet where we’re about 11 people,” one and the witness who gave his name as Isabella told the public broadcaster Doctor,
The attack is as follows deadly shooting Last week, a lone shooter killed two people in the capital Oslo in neighboring Norway.
The terrorist threat against Denmark is currently considered “serious”, with the biggest threat coming from religious extremism, according to the latest report from the Danish Security and Intelligence Service.
Threats to Denmark from right-wing extremists are considered to be at a “normal” level, meaning there is potential and/or intention and possibly planning.
Denmark last seen terrorist attack in 2015Two people were killed and six police officers were injured, when a lone gunman shot and killed a man outside a culture center hosting a debate on freedom of expression, and later in central Copenhagen. A man was murdered outside the Jewish synagogue.
The gunman was killed in a shootout with the police.
A concert organized by singer Harry Styles in Copenhagen on Sunday night was canceled, police said.
“Our condolences and deepest condolences go out to the victims, their relatives and all those affected by the tragedy,” the couple, Queen Margrethe of Denmark and the Crown Prince, said in a statement.
An event in southern Denmark to commemorate the end of the Tour de France stages organized by the Crown Prince and with Fredriksson in attendance was also cancelled.
The suspect will face preliminary questioning before a judge on Monday (today).