Shooting in Denmark: Several dead in Copenhagen shopping center, suspect arrested – National

A gunman opened fire at a busy shopping center in the Danish capital on Sunday, killing several people and injuring several others, police said.

A 22-year-old Dane was arrested, Copenhagen Police Inspector Thomassen told reporters, adding there was no indication anyone else was involved in the attack, although police are still investigating.

Such shootings are rare in Denmark. Thomassen said it was too early to speculate on the motive for the late afternoon shooting at Field’s, one of Scandinavia’s largest shopping malls on the outskirts of the Danish capital. When the shots rang out, some people hid in shops while others fled in a panicked stampede, according to witnesses.

“This is pure terror. It’s terrible,” said Hans Christian Stoltz, a 53-year-old IT consultant who brought his daughters to see Harry Styles at a concert scheduled for Sunday night near the mall. “You may be wondering how one person could do this to another human being, but it goes beyond that? beyond the possible.”

Thomassen did not give an exact number of casualties other than saying several people were dead and several wounded. He said the suspect is an “ethnic Dane,” a term typically used to mean someone is white.

Danish broadcaster TV2 published a grainy photo of the suspected shooter, a man wearing knee-length shorts and a tank top, holding a rifle in his right hand.

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Footage of shootings at a shopping center in Copenhagen shows people running away from gunfire

Copenhagen Mayor Sophie H. Andersen tweeted: “Terrifying reports of shootings in fields. We don’t yet know exactly how many were injured or killed, but it’s very serious.”

Pictures from the scene showed people running from the mall and TV2 published a photo of a man being placed on a stretcher. After the shooting, a massive contingent of heavily armed police officers patrolled the area, with several fire engines also parked outside the mall.

Laurits Hermansen told Danish broadcaster DR that he was with his family in a clothing store in the mall when he heard “three, four hits”. Really loud bang. It sounded like the shots were fired right next to the store.”

The shopping center is located on the outskirts of Copenhagen, directly opposite a metro station on a line that connects the city center with the international airport. A main thoroughfare also runs next to the mall.

Danish media reported that the Harry Styles concert that was scheduled to take place at the nearby Royal Arena has been cancelled.

Styles wrote on Snapchat: “My team and I are praying for everyone involved in the Copenhagen shopping center shooting. I’m shocked. Dear H.”

Shortly after the shooting, the royal palace announced that a reception with Crown Prince Frederik in connection with the Tour de France cycle race had been cancelled. The first three stages of the race took place in Denmark this year. The reception was to take place on the royal yacht, which is moored in Soenderborg, the town where stage three ended.

The shooting came a week after a mass shooting in neighboring Norway in which police said a Norwegian of Iranian descent opened fire during an LGBTQ festival, killing two and injuring more than 20.