Several people have been killed in a shooting at a shopping mall in Copenhagen.
Key points:
- Copenhagen’s main hospital says it has received a “small group of patients” to receive treatment
- It has convened additional staff, including surgeons and nurses
- A policeman said: “We know there are several deaths … [and] several wounded ”
Copenhagen police, who have arrested a 22-year-old Dane, said they could not rule out that the attack was an “act of terrorism”.
“We know there are several deaths … [and] several injured, “police inspector Søren Thomassen, head of the Copenhagen police operations unit, told a news conference.
“We don’t have information that others are involved. That’s what we know now,” he said.
Officers had been sent to the Field Mall in the city after reports of a shooting, and told people inside the center to stay and wait for help, they said.
People are shown fleeing Fields Mall after Danish police say they received reports of a shooting, (Reuters: Ritzau Scanpix / Claus)
The capital’s main hospital, Rigshospitalet, had received a “small group of patients” to receive treatment, a spokesman said.
The spokesman added that he had summoned additional staff, including surgeons and nurses.
Local media published images showing heavily armed police officers at the scene of the attack, as well as ordinary people from the mall.
Images posted by tabloid Ekstra Bladet showed a person transported by rescue workers to an ambulance on a stretcher.
‘Pure terror’
People reacted outside the Field mall after police announced there was a shooting. (Reuters: Ritzau Scanpix / Olafur Steinar Gestsson)
Armed violence is relatively rare in Denmark.
When the shots rang, some people hid in the shops while others fled in a panic, according to witnesses.
“It’s pure terror. That’s horrible,” said Hans Christian Stoltz, a 53-year-old computer consultant who took his daughters to see Harry Styles perform at a concert scheduled for Sunday night near the center. commercial.
“You may be wondering how a person can do this to another human being, but it’s beyond … beyond anything that is possible.”
Laurits Hermansen told Danish broadcaster DR that he and his family were in a clothing store in the mall when he heard “three to four blows. Very strong blows.”
“It looked like the shots were fired right next to the store,” he said.
Police did not give a specific count of casualties beyond saying there were several people dead and several injured. Inspector Thomassen said the suspect was an “ethnic Dane,” a phrase commonly used to mean someone is white.
Danish broadcaster TV2 posted a grainy photograph of the alleged gunman, a man in knee-length shorts and a T-shirt and with what appeared to be a rifle in his right hand.
Organizers suspended the Harry Styles concert, which had been scheduled at the nearby Royal Arena, by order of police.
On Snapchat, Styles wrote, “My team and I pray for everyone involved in the Copenhagen mall shooting. I’m shocked. 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 canceled.
The first three stages of the race were held in Denmark this year, the palace said in a statement.
The reception was to take place on the royal yacht moored in Soenderborg, the city where the third stage ended.
AP / Reuters
Posted 3 hours ago 3 hours ago dig. July 3, 2022 at 7:26 pm, updated 42 minutes ago 42 minutes ago dig. July 3, 2022 at 10:26 p.m.