A gunman has killed three people and wounded others, three of them critically, at one of Denmark’s biggest shopping malls in capital Copenhagen, police say.
The suspected gunman, who is in custody, is a 22-year-old Danish man who was detained near the Fields shopping mall, said police inspector Soren Thomassen, head of the Copenhagen police operations unit, on Sunday.
“There are several injured, and what we also know now is that there are several dead,” Thomassen told a news conference.
The suspect has been charged with manslaughter and will face questioning in front of a judge on Monday.
The suspect was apprehended at 5.48pm local time while carrying a rifle and ammunition, said investigators. Police said they launched a massive search operation throughout the local Zealand region early Sunday evening in search of any accomplices.
The investigation so far did not point towards a racist motive or otherwise, but this could change, the police chief said.
The shopping centre is on the outskirts of Copenhagen, just across from a subway line that connects the city centre with the international airport. A major highway also runs adjacent to Field’s.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Denmark had suffered a cruel attack.
Sending condolences to those who had lost loved ones, she said she wanted to encourage Danes to stand together and support each other in this difficult time.
“Denmark was hit by a cruel attack on Sunday night,” she said. “Several were killed. Even more wounded. Innocent families shopping or eating out. Children, adolescents and adults.”
The attack rocked Denmark at the end of an otherwise joyful week, just after it hosted the first three stages of the Tour de France cycle race, according to Reuters.
