Copenhagen, Denmark –
A gunman opened fire inside a busy shopping center in the Danish capital on Sunday, killing several people and wounding others, police said.
A 22-year-old Dane was arrested, Copenhagen police inspector Søren Thomassen told reporters, adding there was no indication anyone else was involved in the attack, although police were still investigating.
Such shootings are rare in Denmark. Thomassen said it was too early to speculate on the motive for the shooting, which occurred in the late afternoon at Field’s, one of Scandinavia’s largest shopping malls on the outskirts of the Danish capital. As the shots rang out, some people hid in shops while others fled in a panicked stampede, according to witnesses.
“It’s pure terror. This is horrible,” said Hans Christian Stoltz, a 53-year-old IT consultant, who was taking his daughters to see Harry Styles perform at a concert scheduled for Sunday night near the mall. “You may be wondering how a person can do this to another human being, but it’s beyond…beyond anything possible.”
Thomassen did not give a specific casualty count other than to say that multiple people were killed and several injured. He said the suspect was an “ethnic Dane,” a phrase normally used to indicate someone is white.
Danish broadcaster TV2 published a grainy photo of the suspected 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 Campos. We still don’t know for sure how many were injured or killed, but it is very serious.”
Footage from the scene showed people running out of the mall, and TV2 posted a photo of a man on a stretcher. After the shooting, a large contingent of heavily armed police officers patrolled the area, with several fire department vehicles also parked outside the mall.
Laurits Hermansen told Danish broadcaster DR that she was in a clothing store in the mall with her family when she heard “three, four explosions. Really loud bangs. It sounded like the shots were going off right next to the store”.
The mall is on the outskirts of Copenhagen, right in front of a metro station on a line that connects the city center with the international airport. A main road also runs alongside the mall.
Danish media have reported that Harry Styles’ concert, scheduled at the nearby Royal Arena, has been cancelled.
On Snapchat, Styles wrote, “My team and I are praying for everyone involved in the Copenhagen mall shooting. I’m shocked. I love H.”
Shortly after the shooting, the royal palace said a reception with Crown Prince Frederik related to 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 scheduled on the royal yacht moored in Soenderborg, the town where the third stage ended.
The shooting came a week after a mass shooting in neighboring Norway, where police said a Norwegian man of Iranian descent opened fire during an LGBTQ festival, killing two and wounding more than 20.
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Karl Ritter reported from Unterseen, Switzerland.