Danish police said there are “several dead” following a shooting at a shopping mall in the capital Copenhagen. Authorities have detained one suspect in connection with the incident.
Danish police said Sunday that several people died and a number of people were injured during a shooting at a Copenhagen mall.
Officers were called to the Fields shopping center, located close to the city’s main airport, at around 5:30 p.m. local time (1530 UTC/GMT) after reports of a gunman firing shots.
What we know so far
Chief police inspector Soren Thomassen told a news conference on Sunday evening that several people had died and many more were wounded. But he said it was too early to reveal the exact number.
Thomassen added that a 22-year-old Danish national was arrested in connection with the shooting. He described him as an “ethnic Dane.”
He said police don’t currently believe anyone else was involved.
The police chief added that terrorism cannot immediately be ruled out.
Thomassen also said the shooting happened in several places within the mall.
Danish public broadcaster DR cited a local hospital as saying they were treating three people in connection with the shooting at their trauma center.
Other local media published images showing heavily armed police officers at the scene, as well as people running out of the mall.
Police said they remained in the building in larger numbers on Sunday evening and were working to secure the area.
They said they had also increased their presence on the island of Zealand and a manhunt was underway for any possible accomplices.
Dänemark Kopenhagen Schüsse in Einkauszentrum Fields
Police said the suspected gunman was detained near the Fields shopping mall on the southern outskirts of Copenhagen
Witnesses describe ‘loud bangs’
Danish newspaper Berlingske spoke to an eyewitness at the mall, who said shoppers rushed to leave the mall when the shooting began.
“It was crazy,” said store worker Chelobeth Johansen. She said she heard several shots and could see people had started running before she shut the store and left the mall herself.
Shopper Laurits Hermansen told DR that he was in a clothing store with his family when he heard “three-four bangs. Really loud bangs. It sounded like the shots were being fired just next to the store.”
The shooting took place just hours before pop star Harry Styles was to play a sold-out concert at the Royal Arena, which is just a short drive from the mall.
Organizers said the gig would proceed as planned after the police gave their approval.
On Snapchat, Styles wrote “My team and I pray for everyone involved in the Copenhagen shopping mall shooting. I am shocked. Love H.”
An event on the royal yacht connected to the Tour de France cycling race was canceled, the palace said in a statement.
The first three stages of the race were held in Denmark this year.
The shooting comes just over a week after a gunman opened fire near a gay bar in Oslo in neighboring Norway, killing two people and wounding 21 others.
