Police arrest suspect in Copenhagen mall shooting that killed three
A man arrested on suspicion of killing three people and wounding several others during a shooting at a shopping mall in Copenhagen was known to psychiatric professionals, Danish police said Monday.
The shooting unfolded on Sunday at multiple locations inside Field’s, a shopping center in the Danish capital. Social media footage showed people running through the mall and heavily armed law enforcement officers on the scene.
At a press conference on Monday morning, Copenhagen’s Head of Police Soren Thomassen said a 17-year-old Danish woman, a 17-year-old Danish man and a 47-year-old Russian national had been killed in the gunfire.
Two other Danes and two Swedish nationals had received gunshot wounds and were in hospital in critical but stable conditions, while several others sustained minor injuries while leaving the mall, Thomassen said.
A 22-year-old Danish man was arrested in connection with the shooting and is currently the only suspect.
“There is no indication the suspect was acting with others but there is still a massive investigation ongoing to make sure this is the case,” Thomassen said.
Earlier, the police had said they detained the suspect 13 minutes after receiving the first emergency call, and that he was “carrying a rifle and ammunition” at the time of his arrest.
At the press conference on Monday, Thomassen said there is no indication the attack was an “act of terror” nor motivated by gender, and police believe the victims were chosen at random. The suspect was “known to people in the psychiatric field,” he said.
The suspect will be charged with manslaughter, Thomassen said.
A phone line for victims has been opened and police said they have set up a central location where eyewitnesses can get support and report their experiences to law enforcement officials.
Danish police said Sunday they had evacuated thousands from the Royal Arena venue next to the mall. The arena had been scheduled to hold a Harry Styles concert, but this was canceled following the shooting.
In a statement Sunday night, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen sent sympathy to the wounded, their relatives and the bereaved, as well as “all the Danes who were close to these frightening events.”
“We have all been brutally ripped from the bright summer that had just begun. It is incomprehensible. Heartbreaking. Meaningless. Our beautiful and usually so safe capital was changed in a split second,” Frederiksen said.
In a statement, Denmark’s Royal House said, “Our thoughts and deepest sympathy are with the victims, their relatives and all those affected by the tragedy.”
The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, also expressed solidarity with the people of Denmark.
“Thinking of everyone in #Copenhagen tonight after horrific reports of several people killed in a shooting in a shopping mall. We are with you Denmark,” she tweeted.
Gun violence is relatively rare in Denmark. Copenhagen’s last major shooting incident was in 2015, when a gunman attacked a free speech forum featuring controversial cartoonist Lars Vilks, killing one man and wounding three others.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES