COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A gunman opened fire in a busy shopping center in the Danish capital on Sunday, killing several people and wounding several others, police said.
A 22-year-old Dane was arrested after the shooting, Copenhagen police inspector Søren Thomassen told reporters, adding that there was no indication that anyone else was involved, although police were still investigating.
He said it was too early to speculate on a motive for the late-afternoon shooting at Field’s, one of Scandinavia’s largest shopping centers on the outskirts of the Danish capital. When the shots rang out, some people hid in shops and others fled in a panicked stampede, according to witnesses.
“This is pure terror. It’s terrible,” said Hans Christian Stolz, a 53-year-old IT consultant who brought his daughters to see Harry Styles perform at the concert scheduled for Sunday night near the mall. “You might wonder how a human could do this to another human being, but it’s beyond… beyond anything possible.”
Thomassen did not give a specific number of casualties, except to say that several people were killed and several were injured. He said the suspect was “ethnically Danish,” a phrase usually used to mean someone is white.
Danish broadcaster TV2 released a grainy photo of the alleged gunman, a man wearing knee-length shorts and a tank top and holding what appeared to be a rifle in his right hand.
Copenhagen Mayor Sophie H. Andersen tweeted: “Terrible reports of shooting in Fields. We still don’t know for sure how many are injured or killed, but it is very serious.
Footage from the scene showed people running from the shopping center and TV2 published a photo of a man being carried on a stretcher. Following the shooting, a large contingent of heavily armed police patrolled the area, with several fire engines also parked outside the mall.
Laurits Hermansen told Danish broadcaster DR that he was in a clothing store in the shopping center with his family when he heard “three, four shots. Really loud bangs. It sounded like the gunshots could be heard right next to the store.
The shopping center is on the outskirts of Copenhagen directly opposite a metro station for a line that connects the city center with the international airport. A major highway also runs adjacent to the mall.
It was unclear if Styles’ concert planned at the nearby Royal Arena would go ahead.
On Snapchat, Styles wrote: “My team and I are praying for everyone involved in the Copenhagen mall shooting. I am shocked. I love X.”
Shortly after the shooting, the royal palace announced that a reception with Crown Prince Frederik associated with the Tour de France cycling race had been cancelled. The first three stages of the race were held in Denmark this year. The reception was to be held on the royal yacht, which was docked in Sonderborg, the town where the third leg finished.
The shooting came a week after a mass shooting in neighboring Norway, where police said a Norwegian of Iranian descent opened fire at an LGBTQ festival, killing two and wounding more than 20.
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Ritter reported from Unterseen, Switzerland.
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