Police say several people were killed and injured in a shooting at a shopping center in the Danish capital Copenhagen. The suspected perpetrator, a 22-year-old Dane, has been arrested. The police do not rule out the possibility that it is terrorism.
The shooting took place in a shopping center on Amager Island, located between Copenhagen’s city center and the airport. Many visitors ran out in panic after hearing shots, video footage shows. The police are on the scene en masse. “People have been shot at and several people have been hit,” said a police spokesman.
Copenhagen’s main hospital, Rigshospitalet, reports having received a “small group of patients” in connection with the incident. The hospital has engaged additional staff, including surgeons and nurses.
Police later announced that the assailant had been arrested. “The suspected perpetrator is 22 years old,” said police spokesman Søren Thomassen. It is a Dane. He probably acted alone. Police are still investigating whether terrorism was involved.
Police are currently contacting the victims’ families. They are also looking for witnesses, photos and video material of the facts.
Several people have been killed and injured, the police spokesman said. He did not specify numbers.
To give evidence
The Danish newspaper ‘Ekstra Bladet’ spoke to a witness. He suspected that the shooting took place near a restaurant. The newspaper ‘Berlingske’ also spoke to witnesses on the spot. The first shot was said to have been fired at 5:32 p.m. Then everyone started running away. Then the second shot came and everyone started screaming. “A lot of people hid in a staff room at a Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) restaurant,” said one employee.
A witness working in this restaurant heard ‘six or seven’ shots. “People fled en masse into our store and dived over the counter. We hid in the staff changing room and later fled to the top floor of the mall. After about an hour we were told it was safe to exit. It was terrifying.”
The mayor of Copenhagen, Sophie H. Andersen, is shocked by the events. “It’s terrible. We don’t know yet how many people have been injured or killed, but it is very serious,” Andersen said on Twitter.
Harry Styles
The shopping center is just a few hundred meters from the Royal Arena, where British singer-songwriter Harry Styles will give a performance tonight at 9 p.m. Styles is best known as a member of the British/Irish band One Direction and as a solo singer. He responded to the shooting via Snapchat. “My team and I pray for everyone involved in the shooting in the Copenhagen shopping center. I’m in shock,” it sounds.
The concert is still going ahead. Live Nation Denmark writes that security guards are in close contact with the police who have the situation under control. “Police have also given permission for the concert to go ahead,” it said in a statement on Facebook. “We are in talks with the artist and the plan now is to start the concert an hour later.” The announcement, however, cannot count on approval. “You can’t be serious,” reads one of the many comments below the message.
According to Live Nation, more than half of the audience is already in place in the sold-out hall. “We will escort the rest of the fans into the Royal Arena as quickly and calmly as possible.” The organizer admits that the arena is more difficult to reach due to the deployment of emergency services.
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