The police refute terrorist attacks in Copenhagen
– There is nothing that can substantiate that it is a terrorist act, said Chief Inspector Søren Thomassen in the Copenhagen police at a press conference in the Police Station on Monday morning.
Three people were killed and fire seriously injured in the mass shooting at the Field’s shopping center near Kastrup airport in Copenhagen on Sunday afternoon.
The killed are a 17-year-old Danish boy, a 17-year-old Danish girl and a 47-year-old man with Russian citizenship who lives in Denmark.
Critical
Four people are seriously injured and for one of them the condition is critical.
The injured are two Danish women, a 40-year-old and a 19-year-old. In add, two Swedish citizens – a 50-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl – are injured, Thomassen stated.
In addition to this, a number of people were slightly injured in the panic when they fled the mall during the shooting.
The police were in place very quickly, and already 13 minutes after the alarm went off, the perpetrator had been apprehended.
– Random
The arrested man is a 22-year-old Danish citizen who admits to having been behind the shooting. Police do not currently see any evidence that the shooting was a terrorist act.
– Our assessment is that these are random victims. That it is not motivated by gender or the like, Thomassen said.
Everything also indicates that the perpetrator was carried out and the mass shooting alone had no helpers.
– As it looks now, it indicates that he acted alone. More motive about revenge or something else I will wait to comment on, said Thomassen.
Known for psychiatry
Police see that it has been a form of preparation ahead of the shooting. The man was also known for psychiatry.
Police have questioned the suspect and he has admitted that he was at the scene and that it was he who carried out the attack. He is charged with murder and is being produced for custody on Monday afternoon.
Thomassen said that a massive investigation is underway for the police to make sure that the man had no helpers. This includes a review of searches and documents.
Thomassen said the accused was carrying a rifle and a knife and approaching a gun when he was apprehended. The weapons were legal, but he does not have a gun permit.
God preparedness
Emergency preparedness and cooperation between the emergency services in Copenhagen during the shooting was very successful and was strengthened at a press conference in the Capital Region.
All those who could be rescued after the shooting were rescued, not least due to good cooperation between ambulance personnel, police and the emergency services in Copenhagen.
– The entire health preparedness in the Capital Region has shown that it can be mobilized when it really matters. Many interrupted the holiday to come in and help, said chief physician at 112, Anders Damm-Hejmdal.
He said that at short notice it could send 31 ambulances from the Capital Region to Field’s, in addition to ten ambulances from Region Zealand. The first emergency team arrived after a few minutes.
Norwegian offer of help
On Sunday evening, Jonas Gahr Støre had contact with the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to help with the mass shooting in Copenhagen.
– Last night I had contact with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to express sympathy and offer the Danish authorities all the help they may need, writes Prime Minister Støre (Labor) on Facebook.
PST writes on Twitter that the mass shooting in Denmark does not change the threat picture in Norway, and that there are no indications that the shooting has links to Norway.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been contacted in the last 24 hours by several Norwegian citizens who were evacuated during the shooting. But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not aware that Norwegian citizens are among the injured and killed, according to communications adviser Siri R. Svendsen.