Danish police mentioned Monday that a shopping center taking pictures that left three folks useless and 4 others critically wounded was not terror-related, including that the gunman acted alone and appeared to have chosen his victims at random.
Copenhagen chief police inspector Soren Thomassen mentioned the victims — a 17-year-old boy and a 17-year-old lady, each Danes, and a 47-year-old Russian man — had been killed when the gunman opened hearth Sunday afternoon within the Subject’s shopping center, one in every of Scandinavia’s largest.
4 different folks — two Danish and two Swedish residents — had been handled for gunshot wounds and had been in essential however secure situation, Thomassen mentioned. A number of different folks obtained minor accidents as they fled the mall. Some 31 ambulances responded to the emergency, rescue officers mentioned.
Thomassen mentioned police had no indication that anybody helped the gunman, who was recognized as a 22-year-old Dane. He mentioned that, whereas the motive is unclear, there may be nothing to recommend terrorism and that the suspect could be arraigned later Monday on preliminary expenses of homicide.
In Denmark, preliminary expenses are a step wanting formal expenses however permit authorities to maintain felony suspects in custody throughout an investigation.
“There may be nothing in our investigation, or the paperwork we now have reviewed, or the issues we now have discovered, or the witnesses’ statements we now have gotten, that may substantiate that that is an act of terrorism,” he mentioned.
Police mentioned they seized a rifle from the suspect, who additionally carried a knife. “We additionally know that he has had entry to a gun,” Thomassen mentioned, including: “I cannot remark additional on it now.”
He confirmed that the suspect was recognized to psychological well being providers however supplied no additional info.
Danish broadcaster TV2 printed a grainy photograph of the alleged gunman, a person carrying knee-length shorts, a vest or sleeveless shirt and holding what gave the impression to be a rifle in his proper hand.
“He appeared very violent and indignant,” eyewitness Mahdi Al-Wazni informed TV2. “He spoke to me and mentioned it [the rifle] isn’t actual as I used to be filming him. He appeared very pleased with what he was doing.”
Photos from the scene confirmed folks working out of the mall in panic. After the taking pictures, an enormous contingent of closely armed cops patrolled the world, with a number of hearth division autos additionally parked exterior the mall.
“It's pure terror. That is terrible,” mentioned Hans Christian Stoltz, a 53-year-old IT marketing consultant, who was bringing his daughters to see Harry Kinds carry out at a live performance scheduled Sunday evening close to the mall. “You may surprise how an individual can do that to a different human being, but it surely’s past … past something that’s attainable.”
The live performance was canceled due to the taking pictures.
It was the worst gun assault in Denmark since February 2015, when a 22-year-old man was killed in a shootout with police after happening a taking pictures rampage within the capital that left two folks useless and 5 cops wounded. That assault was believed to have been motivated by Islamic extremism.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen referred to as Sunday’s taking pictures a “merciless assault.”
“It's incomprehensible. Heartbreaking. Pointless,” she mentioned. “Our lovely and normally so secure capital was modified in a cut up second.”
The multistory Subject’s buying heart is on the outskirts of Copenhagen, simply throughout from a subway station on a line connecting the town heart with the worldwide airport. A significant freeway additionally runs adjoining to the mall.
The taking pictures got here every week after a mass taking pictures in neighboring Norway, the place police mentioned a Norwegian man of Iranian origin opened hearth throughout an LGBTQ competition, killing two folks and wounding greater than 20.
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