Three people killed in Copenhagen shopping mall shooting as 22-year-old suspect arrested
Police have arrested one suspect who they described as a 22-year-old ethnically Danish man, in connection with the shooting.
Monday 4 July 2022 07:19, UK
Three people have been killed and three others are in a critical condition after a shooting at a shopping mall in Copenhagen, police in Denmark have said.
A 22-year-old Danish man was arrested after the shooting at the Field's shopping centre, one of the largest in Scandinavia, Copenhagen chief inspector Soeren Thomassen said.
He said the victims included a man in his 40s and "two young people," without giving further details. Several others were injured, three critically, he added.
This story has been updated - click here as Danish police say shooting not likely an act of terror
Chief inspector Thomassen said police first received reports of a shooting at 5.37pm on Sunday and arrested the suspect 11 minutes later.
He said there was no evidence that the perpetrator was working in conspiracy with others.
He added that the investigation did not suggest a racist motive or otherwise, but that could change.
Footage shows the alleged gunman to be a man wearing a vest or sleeveless shirt and holding what appeared to be a rifle.
Images from the scene showed people running from the shopping centre.
"People first thought it was a thief... Then I suddenly hear shots and threw myself behind the counter inside the store," eyewitness Rikke Levandovski told broadcaster TV2.
"He is just shooting into the crowd, not up in the ceiling or into the floor," she added.
Another witness who gave her name as Isabella told public broadcaster DR: "My friend and I... suddenly we hear shots. I hear about 10 shots and then run as fast as we can into a toilet.
"We squeeze into this tiny toilet where we are around 11 people."
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the country had been hit by a "cruel attack".
"It is incomprehensible. Heartbreaking. Pointless," she said. "Our beautiful and usually so safe capital was changed in a split second."
British singer Harry Styles was expected to perform at a venue close to the mall on Sunday night but his concert was called off by order of police.
In a tweet, the former One Direction star said he was "heartbroken" and "devastated for the victims".
The Danish Royal Family announced that they had cancelled a dinner which had been planned to celebrate the opening stage of the Tour de France in Denmark.
In a joint statement, Queen Margrethe, her son Crown Prince Frederik and his wife, Crown Princess Mary, said: "We do not yet know the full extent of the tragedy, but it is already clear that more people have lost their lives and that even more have been injured.
"The situation calls for unity and care."
It was the worst gun attack in Denmark since February 2015, when a 22-year-old man was killed in a shootout with police after going on a shooting rampage in the capital which left two people dead and five police officers wounded.