Denmark: At Least 3 Dead in Copenhagen Mall Shooting, 22-Yr-Old Suspect Arrested

The shooting took place across multiple locations inside a shopping centre called Field's.

A person in a white DNA suit being taken away by the police, near the Fields shopping mall after the Copenhagen shooting.

(Photo: PTI)

A shooting at a mall in Denmark's capital city Copenhagen on Sunday, 3 July, killed at least three and injured several others, three among whom are in a critical condition.

The police have arrested a 22-year-old Danish man, who is currently only a suspect.

The Danish police said there was no indication that the shooting was an act of terror, adding that the suspect has a history of mental health issues, the BBC reported.

The shooting played out on Sunday across multiple locations inside the Fields shopping mall, located between the city centre and Copenhagen airport.

Copenhagen Head of Police Soren Thomassen said at a press conference early on Monday that the victims included "a man in his 40s and two young people," news agency AFP reported.

People running through the mall and armed law enforcement officers being deployed were seen on social media footage.

The police are "convinced" that the 22-year-old suspect was the shooter since he was carrying ammunition and a rifle, Thomassen added. Although they believe that the suspect was not working with others, there is no confirmation on the same yet.

The motives of the arrested 22-year-old, however, remain unclear, as per the police.

'Heard 10 Gunshots Suddenly'

The Danish media reported that the suspect tried to trick people into believing that his weapon was fake, so that they would approach him.

"He was sufficiently psychopathic to go and hunt people, but he wasn't running," one witness told DR state television.

Thea Schmidt, who was there at the time of the shooting told broadcaster TV2 that she saw people running towards the exit following which she heard a bang. "Then we ran out of Field's too," she added.

Isabella, another witness, told DR that she heard "10 gunshots all of a sudden" and ran to take refuge in the toilet. She hid in the mall for two hours after that.

Harry Styles Concert Cancelled Following the Shooting

The police reportedly evacuated thousands from the Royal Arena, adjacent to the mall. A Harry Styles concert was scheduled to happen there, which was cancelled following the shooting.

"My daughters were supposed to go see Harry Styles. They called me to say someone was shooting. They were in a restaurant when it happened," Hans Christian Stolz, a 53-year-old, told AFP.

His daughter Cassandra added that they had initially thought that people were running because they had seen Harry Styles but later understood that people were panicking. "We ran for our lives," she said.

Styles, in a post on Snapchat, said that he was "shocked by the incident".

"My team and I pray for everyone involved in the Copenhagen shopping mall shooting," he said.

'Safe Capital Changed Within Seconds': Danish PM

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, in a statement on Sunday night, expressed his sympathy for the wounded, the bereaved, and their relatives.

"We have all been brutally ripped from the bright summer that had just begun. It is incomprehensible. Heartbreaking. Meaningless. Our beautiful and usually so safe capital was changed in a split second," he said.

Denmark's Royal House, in a statement said: "Our thoughts and deepest sympathy are with the victims, their relatives and all those affected by the tragedy."

The president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, also tweeted in solidarity with the people of Denmark.

"Thinking of everyone in #Copenhagen tonight after horrific reports of several people killed in a shooting in a shopping mall. We are with you Denmark," she tweeted.

This shooting comes just over a week after a man opened fire near a gay bar in Oslo, killing two and wounding 21 others.

In February 2015, two were killed and five injured in a series of Islamist-motivated shootings in Copenhagen.

(With inputs from AFP.)