3 dead and 4 in critical condition after shooting at Copenhagen shopping centre
- Danish police described the apprehended suspect as a 22-year-old Danish man who likely acted alone and selected his victims at random
- Eyewitnesses quoted by Danish media said they saw more than 100 people rush towards the shopping centre’s exit when the first shots were heard
A gunman opened fire inside a busy shopping centre in the Danish capital on Sunday, killing three people and critically wounding four others, police said.
A 22-year-old Danish man was arrested after the shooting, Copenhagen police inspector Søren Thomassen told reporters, adding there was no indication that anyone else was involved in the attack, though police were still investigating.
Thomassen said on Monday that the gunman most likely acted alone and selected his victims at random. Two Danes and one Russian were killed in the attack, with another two Danes and two Swedes hospitalised with serious injuries.
When shots rang out in the late afternoon at Field’s, one of the biggest shopping centres in Scandinavia located on the outskirts of the Danish capital, some people hid in shops while others fled in a panicked stampede, according to witnesses.
“It is pure terror. This is awful,” said Hans Christian Stoltz, a 53-year-old IT consultant, who was bringing his daughters to see Harry Styles perform at 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 that’s possible.”
Thomassen said the victims included a man in his 40s and two “young people”, without giving details. Several others were injured, he said.