Several people have been killed by gunfire in a shopping center in Copenhagen. Police chief inspector Søren Thomassen said in the evening. A 22-year-old Dane was arrested in connection with the incident. It cannot be ruled out that terrorism is involved. It is too early to say anything about the motive.
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It was initially unclear whether the alleged perpetrator had accomplices. Thomassen said the agency is continuing to investigate and is working hard to secure the site. The previous information is associated with uncertainty, it is a kind of chaos phase.
Pictures and amateur videos showed people fleeing the building in panic. An eyewitness told broadcaster DR that he heard three or four very loud bangs while he was in a store with his family. Then other people ran into the store and reported shots, after which he and his family fled through an emergency exit, the man said.
The police were deployed in large numbers, and a helicopter hovered over the area. The area has been cordoned off. The police called on eyewitnesses to provide video and photo material.
Also the newspaper Jyllands Posten witnesses said they heard gunshots. “You didn’t know what was happening. Suddenly chaos broke out everywhere,” 20-year-old Emilie Jeppesen told the newspaper. Her friend Astrid Kofoed Jørgensen said: “Everyone in the restaurant was sent to the kitchen, then we sat there and we could hear three or four shots.”
Hospital requests staff
Copenhagen Mayor Sophie Haestorp Andersen wrote in a post that the situation was very serious. A spokesman for Rigshospitalet hospital said a “small group of patients” had been admitted for treatment. Additional staff has been requested.
Field’s is a large shopping center in the relatively new district of Ørestad in the south of Copenhagen. The large multi-purpose hall Royal Arena is also nearby. A sold-out concert by British singer Harry Styles was planned there on Sunday.