Several killed in shooting at Copenhagen shopping
centre
22-year-old Danish man in custody as police chief says
terrorism cannot be ruled out as a motive
Jennifer
Rankin and agencies
Sun 3 Jul
2022 20.04 BST
Danish
police say several people were shot dead and one suspect has been arrested
after gunfire rang out at a busy Copenhagen shopping centre, with emergency
services rushing to the scene on Sunday evening.
The number
or condition of all the people struck by shots was not immediately available
amid confusion over what had occurred at one of Scandinavia’s biggest malls.
Copenhagen
police chief inspector Soren Thomassen said authorities had no indication that
there was more than one shooter. He said the suspect in custody was a
22-year-old Danish man, and that “terrorism” could not be ruled out as a
motive.
“We know
that there are several dead” and “several injured”, Thomassen told reporters at
a press conference. “We do not have information that others are involved. This
is what we know now.”
The
capital’s main hospital, Rigshospitalet, has called in extra staff, including
surgeons and nurses, a spokesman said.
In a series
of tweets earlier on Sunday, police said they had sent officers to a large mall
in the capital named Field’s, after receiving reports of a shooting.
Police were
present in large numbers, they added, advising people inside the centre to stay
put and await assistance.
“We have a
massive presence at Field’s and are working on getting an overview,” police
tweeted.
Images on
social media that could not be immediately verified showed police running into
a building and getting dressed in protective gear.
Other
footage posted online showed people running through and out of the mall, and
Denmark’s TV2 broadcaster posted a photo of a man being put on a stretcher.
Witnesses said people were crying and hiding in shops. Several fire vehicles
were parked outside the mall.
Police have
appealed for anyone who has seen, heard or filmed anything to contact them.
Copenhagen’s
mayor, Sophie H Andersen, tweeted: “Terrible reports of shooting in Fields. We
do not yet know for sure how many were injured or dead, but it is very
serious.”
Laurits
Hermansen told Danish broadcaster DR that he was in a clothing store at the
shopping centre with his family when he heard “three or four bangs. Really loud
bangs. It sounded like the shots were being fired just next to the store.”
Other
witnesses quoted by Danish media said they had seen more than 100 people rush
towards the mall’s exit as the first shots were heard.
“We could
see that many people suddenly ran towards the exit and then we heard a bang.
Then we ran out of Field’s too,” Thea Schmidt, who was in the mall at time of
the attack, told broadcaster TV2.
Field’s
shopping centre, on the outskirts of the capital, has 135 shops, cafes and
restaurants.
The mall is
just across from a subway line that connects the city centre with the
international airport. A major highway also runs adjacent to Field’s.
British
singer Harry Styles is due to perform later in the evening at a concert venue
less than a mile from the mall.
The concert
will go ahead as scheduled after dialogue with the police, and half of the
audience has already entered the venue, according to the concert promoter Live
Nation.
On
Snapchat, Styles wrote “My team and I pray for everyone involved in the
Copenhagen shopping mall shooting. I am shocked. Love H.”
Shortly
after the shooting, the royal palace said a reception with Crown Prince
Frederik connected to the Tour de France cycling race had been cancelled. The
first three stages of the race were held in Denmark this year, the palace said
in a statement.
The
reception was due to be held on the royal yacht that is moored in Sønderborg,
the town where the third stage ended.
The
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
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