Several dead in a shooting in a shopping center in Copenhagen | International

Several people have died this Sunday as a result of a shooting in a shopping center in Copenhagen, as announced by Soran Thomassen, the chief inspector of the police of the Danish capital. Thomassen has reported that the alleged perpetrator, a 22-year-old Danish citizen, has been arrested near the shopping center. The inspector stated at a press conference that the causes of the attack are being investigated, that at the moment “a terrorist motive cannot be ruled out” and that it seems that the aggressor has acted alone. The authorities have not specified the number of deaths and injuries caused by the attack.

copenhagen police had previously reported on Twitter of sending reinforcements to the commercial complex, located in a district between the city center and the airport, after receiving information about a shooting. “There have been shots and several people have been hit,” he said, without specifying injured or dead victims, while confirming the arrest of a suspected person in connection with the shooting. “Currently, we cannot say more about his identity,” he stated. Inspector Thomassen has added in his press conference that a “massive police device” had been deployed around the Fields shopping center, in the Amager neighborhood. Thomassen has guaranteed that the security forces will continue to be present with a wide deployment and stressed the need to “be absolutely sure” that the situation is “under control”.

Danish media reported that more than a hundred people left the shopping center at high speed shortly before 5:30 p.m. local time (same time in mainland Spain). The mayor of Copenhagen, Sophie Andersen, has spoken on Twitter of a “very serious” incident from which it is still not known for sure how many injured or dead there are. The main hospital in the Danish capital, Rigshospitalet, has received “a small number of patients”, a worker confirmed to the Reuters agency.

The photographs spread on social networks show heavily armed police and several ambulances. The police have cordoned off the entire shopping center and a helicopter has been monitoring the area. Witnesses have assured that they have been able to hear between three and four shots. “I was with my three young children in the mall trying on clothes when I heard three or four shots. They were very loud sounds, ”said Laurits Hermansen, a witness who has spoken with the public broadcaster DR. Rikke Levandovski, another witness, told Reuters that she initially thought it was a robbery, but then she heard “several shots” and hid “behind the counter”.

About 650 meters from the Fields Shopping Center is the Royal Arena, where British singer Harry Styles was scheduled to hold a sold-out concert. At first the concert was going to be held, but it has finally been suspended despite the fact that part of the attendees had already entered the venue, according to security personnel reported to the newspaper Ekstra Bladet. An event in the south of Denmark that was going to commemorate the end of the first three stages of the Tour de France —which have taken place in the Scandinavian country—, with the presence of the crown prince, Frederick of Denmark, and the first Minister, Mette Frederiksen, has also been cancelled, as reported by the Royal House on its website.

One of the first reactions has been that of the EU Commissioner for the Interior, Ylva Johannson, who has stressed that “the Danish police are prioritizing the immediate safety of the people” after this “horrible” shooting. “The images of this cowardly attack must not be shared on the internet. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families”, the Swedish commissioner pointed out. on his Twitter account.

Copenhagen suffered some attacks in 2015, when on February 14 and 15 of that year there were two Islamist-motivated attacks against a cultural center and a synagogue, which left two dead and six police officers injured.

Follow all the international information in Facebook Y Twitteror in our weekly newsletter.