A young man armed with a rifle killed three people and wounded several others in a shopping center in Copenhagen, police said, adding that they had arrested the suspect, a 22-year-old Danish man.
The young man was arrested without resistance when the police arrived at the Fields shopping mall, halfway between the center of the Danish capital and its airport.
«We have three dead and several injured, three of whom are in critical condition,» said Seran Thomassen, the police officer in charge of the investigation in the Danish capital.
The perpetrator's motives remain unknown at this stage. According to Mr. Thomsen, the 22-year-old was known to the police, but only «locally.» «He's not someone we knew particularly well,» he said.
The victims are a man in his forties and two young men, whose ages have not been specified. No further details about the deceased have been provided.
Copenhagen's largest hospital, Rigshospitalet, announced that it had admitted «a small number of patients.» It urgently called on more doctors and other nursing staff to come to work.
«On social media sites, we see scenarios circulating that (the perpetrator) had a racist motive, or some other motive, but I can't say that we have anything to support that at this point,» Mr. Thomsen noted.
However, the police are investigating videos uploaded to social media sites showing the suspect with weapons and, in one case, pointing a gun at his head, raising questions about his mental health.
Earlier, Copenhagen police said they did not rule out the possibility that the attack was a «terrorist» act. They also noted that they were working on the assumption that the perpetrator acted alone.
Two days after the Tour de France passed through the Danish capital amid scenes of jubilation, a strong police presence was deployed at the scene of the massacre and other locations in Copenhagen.
The shooting began around 5:30 p.m. (local time; 6:30 p.m. Greek time), causing visitors to flee in panic. The area was crowded with people, mainly young men and women who were planning to attend a concert by British pop star Harry Styles, which was canceled.
According to eyewitnesses who spoke to Danish media, the suspect tried to lure victims by saying, for example, that his weapon was fake, in order to convince them to approach him. «He was psychopathic enough to go after people, but he wasn't running,» an eyewitness told the public television network DR.
When the first explosions were heard, around a hundred people ran out of the shopping center, according to footage from various cameras. Others simply hid inside.
«Suddenly we heard gunshots, about ten, and we ran to hide in the toilets,» explained Isabela, who remained hidden there for about two hours. «I was scared, many were crying,» she added.
«They were running for their lives.»
A crisis response team was set up, according to Copenhagen Mayor Sofie Hestorp Andersen, and a psychological support hotline was put into operation.
«My daughters had gone to see Harry Styles. They called me to tell me that someone was shooting. They were in a restaurant when it happened,» said Hans Christian Stolz, a 53-year-old Swede who rushed to the scene to find his children. «At first, we thought people were running because they had seen Harry Styles, but then we realized they were panicking (...). They were running for their lives,» added his daughter, Cassandra.
«My team and I are praying for everyone affected by the shooting at the Copenhagen shopping center. I am shocked,» the British singer said via Snapchat.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, for her part, stressed that «Denmark was hit by an inhuman attack» yesterday: «People were killed. Even more were injured. Innocent families who were shopping or had gone out to eat. Children, teenagers, and adults.».
«Our beautiful and usually so safe capital city changed in an instant,» Ms. Frederiksen added. «I want to encourage Danes to stand by each other, to support each other in this difficult time.».
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and foreign leaders expressed their condolences, as did the organizing committee of the Tour de France.
The most recent attack involving firearms in Copenhagen took place on February 14 and 15, 2015, when a jihadist killed two people and injured five others.
Yesterday's massacre in Copenhagen took place a few days after an attack in neighboring Norway, when two people were killed by a lone gunman in Oslo.
