Three people were killed in a shooting at a shopping center in the Danish capital Copenhagen on Sunday. It concerns a man and two young people. Søren Thomassen, chief inspector of the city’s police, reports this. Several people were also injured, three of them in life-threatening condition. A 22-year-old Danish man, believed to have acted alone, has been arrested and will be charged with manslaughter. The police do not rule out an act of terrorism. The suspect will be questioned in the presence of a judge today.
One of the deceased victims is a man aged forty to fifty years old. The two other fatalities are young people, Chief Inspector Thomassen reported at a press conference in the night from Sunday to Monday. According to Thomassen, the arrested 22-year-old Danish suspect is “only indirectly known” to the police. He will be charged with manslaughter, but the exact charge could be revised later.
Motive unknown for now
The shooter’s motive has not yet been released. The police assume that the suspect acted alone and are still investigating whether there was a case of terrorism. “But until we are absolutely sure that hypothesis is correct, we will conduct a broad investigation and maintain massive operational presence in Copenhagen,” Thomassen said. The suspect will be questioned in the presence of a judge today. According to Thomassen, there are no indications that there were multiple perpetrators.
Police are currently contacting the victims’ families and are looking for witnesses, photos and video material of the facts.
In the meantime, the army has taken over the surveillance assignments from the police. This measure should allow more police officers to be released for the investigation into the shooting.
Shooting in the country’s largest shopping center
The shooting took place at Field’s, the country’s largest shopping center, which is located between the city center and Copenhagen Airport, on Amager Island. Due to a sold-out concert by British singer-songwriter Harry Styles that same evening at the Royal Arena a few hundred yards from Field’s, the shopping center was very busy at the time of the shooting.
Many visitors ran outside in panic after hearing shots, video footage shows. Witnesses described to Danish media how the suspect had tried to mislead people by saying his weapon was fake, perhaps hoping they wouldn’t run away. According to several witnesses, the shooter would have walked through the shopping center with a raised rifle. At the time of his arrest, the suspect was in possession of a firearm and ammunition, according to police.
The Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, spoke of a “cruel attack” on Sunday evening. She called on the people of her country to support each other “during this difficult time”. On Twitter, Sophie Hæstorp Andersen, the mayor of Copenhagen, called the reports of the shooting in Field Sunday night “horrific”. “We don’t know yet how many people are injured or dead, but it’s very serious,” she said. “The city’s crisis response team has been convened.”
Copenhagen’s main hospital, Rigshospitalet, reported receiving a “small group of patients” in connection with the incident on Sunday evening. The hospital has engaged additional staff, including surgeons and nurses.
To give evidence
A witness told the Danish newspaper ‘Ekstra Bladet’ that the shooting allegedly took place near a restaurant. 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, other witnesses told the Danish newspaper ‘Berlingske’. “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.”
Harry Styles concert canceled
A performance by British pop star Harry Styles was scheduled for Sunday evening in the Royal Arena, a concert hall near the shopping centre. That was canceled when it became known that there had been fatalities in the shooting. Several thousand fans were initially allowed to enter the hall, but the Danish television channel TV2 reported on Sunday evening that the fans in the hall had been told that the concert would not take place for safety reasons. Styles 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.
Royal family offers condolences
The Danish royal family said in a statement on Sunday that its thoughts and condolences go out to the victims of the Copenhagen shooting. “Tonight we heard the shocking news about the violent incidents in Copenhagen earlier today,” the statement issued on behalf of Queen Margrethe and the Crown Prince couple Frederik and Mary begins. “We don’t know everything about this tragedy yet, but it is already clear that several people have lost their lives and more people have been injured.”
The royal family calls for “unity and care” in the country. “We would like to thank the police, emergency services and health authorities for their prompt and effective response over the past few hours.”
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