(Copenhagen) A shooting left three dead and three injured on Sunday in a shopping center in Copenhagen, according to the police, who arrested a suspect, a 22-year-old Dane.
Posted at 1:02 p.m.
Updated at 7:15 p.m.
The young man, armed according to witnesses with an imposing rifle, was arrested shortly after the arrival of the police near the large Fields shopping mall, located between the city center and the airport of the Danish capital.
“There are several injuries, and we now know that there are several deaths,” Copenhagen Police Chief Inspector Søren Thomassen told a news conference.
PHOTO OLAFUR STEINAR GESTSSON, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
People are seen running during the evacuation of the Fields shopping center in Copenhagen.
The motives of the suspect, described as “a 22-year-old ethnic Dane”, remain unclear but “we cannot rule out an act of terrorism”, he said. According to him, there is no indication at this stage that other people participated in the killing.
Two days after the Tour de France passed through the Danish capital, with great scenes of jubilation, a large police force was deployed at the scene of the shooting and in several places in Copenhagen.
The killing occurred around 5:30 p.m. local time (3:30 p.m. GMT), causing panic. Many visitors were there before a concert by British star Harry Styles in a large hall nearby, which was canceled in the evening.
According to witnesses interviewed by Danish media, the suspect tried to entrap victims, saying for example that his weapon was fake to entice them to get closer.
“He was psychopathic enough to go stalk people, but he didn’t run,” said a witness interviewed by public television DR.
When the first shots were heard, more than a hundred people rushed outside the mall, according to footage of the incident.
PHOTO OLAFUR STEINAR GESTSSON, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A woman ran away with her two children.
Others were forced to hide inside.
“All of a sudden we heard gunshots, I heard ten shots, and we ran as far as we could to get to the toilet,” D said.r Isabella, who hid there for two hours.
“It’s pure terror. It’s awful,” said Hans Christian Stoltz, a 53-year-old computer consultant, who brought his daughters to see Harry Styles perform at a concert scheduled for Sunday night near the mall. “You might wonder how a person can do this to another human being, but it’s beyond… beyond anything possible. »
The police chief said the suspect was “ethnic Dane”, an expression generally used to mean that someone is white.
The 22-year-old suspect, who was arrested without violence after the shooting, is known to police “but only peripherally”, Copenhagen Police Chief Inspector Søren Thomassen told a conference Press.
Danish broadcaster TV2 released a photo of the suspected gunman, a man wearing knee-length shorts and a tank top and holding what appeared to be a gun in his right hand.
“He seemed very violent and angry,” eyewitness Mahdi Al-Wazni told TV2. He spoke to me and told me that (the rifle) was not real, because I was filming it. He seemed very proud of what he was doing. »
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said her country had been hit by a “cruel attack”.
” It’s incomprehensible. Heartbreaking. No need, she said. Our beautiful and usually so safe capital was changed in a split second. »
“Run for our life”
A crisis unit has been triggered, according to Copenhagen Mayor Sophie Haestorp Andersen.
The roads around the shopping center were blocked with a large security perimeter, metro traffic cut off and a helicopter hovered over the area, according to an AFP journalist on the spot.
Heavily armed police prevent residents from returning to their homes.
“My girls had to go to Harry Styles. They called me to say someone was shooting. They were in a restaurant when it happened,” Hans Christian Stolz, a 53-year-old Swede who came to pick up his children, told AFP.
“We thought at first it was people running because they saw Harry Styles, then we realized it was people in panic […] We ran for our lives,” adds his daughter, Cassandra.
“My team and I are praying for everyone affected by the shooting in the Copenhagen mall. I’m shocked,” the British star said on Snapchat.
Police gave no indication of the motives for the shooting.
The last attack in Copenhagen dates back to February 14 and 15, 2015, when a series of Islamist-motivated shootings left two dead and five injured.
With the Associated Press