Shots in Copenhagen: Alleged perpetrator must be in psychiatry

After the fatal shooting in a shopping center in Copenhagen, a court committed the alleged shooter to a psychiatric ward. The police had previously ruled out a terrorist background.

The alleged perpetrator of the Copenhagen shooting that left three dead is committed to a closed psychiatric ward. This was reported by the police in Copenhagen after a nearly two-hour hearing of the suspect in front of a magistrate. The suspect is thus spending his pre-trial detention in a psychiatric ward.

The man’s placement in the psychiatric ward is initially valid until July 28. The findings so far indicated that the 22-year-old was guilty, the magistrate said, according to Danish television.

Three dead, numerous injured

According to the investigators, the 22-year-old Dane is accused of intentional homicide in three counts and attempted homicide in seven counts. He opened fire late Sunday afternoon in the Fields shopping center, which is located between Copenhagen city center and Copenhagen Airport.

Police said he was carrying a rifle, pistol and knife, although he did not have a gun permit. The attack killed three people and injured 30 others, four of them seriously. After the fact, he allowed himself to be arrested without resistance.

Police: “Known to psychiatric services”

The police ruled out an act of terrorism. The 22-year-old had mental problems and was “known to psychiatric services,” said Copenhagen police chief Sören Thomassen. According to a report on Danish television, the man had tried to reach a crisis hotline shortly before the crime.

The investigators also classified videos of the suspect that were circulating online as authentic. In it, the 22-year-old poses with weapons, mimics suicidal gestures and speaks of psychotropic drugs “that don’t work.” The YouTube and Instagram accounts believed to belong to the suspect have been blocked. Investigators also conducted several searches.

Thomassen said the suspected shooter appeared to have acted alone. There is no evidence that the arrested had accomplices.