Shots ring out through a shopping center in the Danish capital. There are sacrifices. The police only announced how many hours after the crime.
At least three people were shot dead in the bloody crime in a shopping center in Copenhagen. The victims are a man between 40 and 50 and two young people, police chief inspector Søren Thomassen said, according to local media. Three other people were seriously injured and in critical condition.
Thomassen did not provide any information about the possible motive. There is speculation about a racist background on social media, he said. There is currently no evidence of this. The police arrested a 22-year-old Dane in connection with the crime. The suspected shooter was “basically known” to the police, said Thomassen. He did not provide any further information on this.
Probably lone perpetrator
Police believe the perpetrator acted alone. “Until we are absolutely certain that the hypothesis is correct, we will conduct a wide-ranging investigation and maintain a massive operational presence in Copenhagen until we can say he was alone,” Thomassen said.
The man had a gun and ammunition with him when he was arrested. Another weapon may have been involved.
The arrested person is to be questioned on Monday, it was said. He will be charged with manslaughter. However, the allegation could still change. The police initially did not want to say whether the man was a member of a rifle club and whether he legally owned the gun.
chaos and panic
Panic broke out in the mall after the shots were fired. Eyewitnesses reported chaotic scenes. The shooter wore dark clothes and was not masked, eyewitness Rikke Levandovski told TV2. Another eyewitness, Mahdi Al-Wazni, said the man fired a long gun.
Laurits Hermansen told broadcaster DR that he heard three or four very loud bangs while he was in a shop with his family. Then other people ran into the store and reported shots, and he and his family fled through an emergency exit, Hermansen said. Eyewitness Levandovski said: “People first thought it was a thief.” Then she heard shots and hid behind a sales counter.
Witnesses also told the newspaper “Jyllands-Posten” that they had heard shots. “You didn’t know what was happening. Suddenly chaos broke out everywhere, »said 20-year-old Emilie Jeppesen to the newspaper. Her friend Astrid Kofoed Jørgensen said: “Everyone in the restaurant was sent to the kitchen, then we sat there and could hear three or four shots.”
calls for cohesion
The Danish royal family meanwhile called on the population to stick together. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also condemned the act as a “cruel attack”. “We were all brutally torn from the bright summer we had just begun,” said Fredriksen. “It is incomprehensible. heartbreaking. useless. Our beautiful and otherwise so safe capital was changed in a fraction of a second.»
Copenhagen’s Mayor Sophie H. Andersen was horrified by the “terrible” shots on Twitter. A reception with the Danish Crown Prince Frederik on the royal ship “Dannebrog” in the port of Sønderborg in honor of the Tour de France, which began on Friday in Copenhagen, was canceled – as was a sold-out concert by British pop star Harry Styles, which was held in a Halle near the shopping center should have taken place.
Emergency services cordoned off the entire island of Zealand, on which the Danish capital is located. Several roads and highway exits were closed. In order to have more forces available to investigate the bloody deed, soldiers took over guard duties from the police. The authorities set up a place where eyewitnesses could give their testimony and receive psychological support.
It is the second time in a short period of time that there has been an attack in a Scandinavian capital. Just over a week ago, two people were killed and 21 others injured in a gay bar in Oslo. The Norwegian secret service PST classifies the attack as an Islamist terrorist attack.
