Several thousand at a memorial service in Copenhagen – NRK Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
– It is important that we are here today, because this is our home, this is where we live. It is our responsibility to be here because it could have been one of us, says Marius Kalinowski to NRK.
He has taken his ten-year-old daughter, Gosia, with him. They do like many hundreds of others around them. They hold each other and watch the flowers fill up.
Many of those present outside Field’s mall have written small notes.
“Many thoughts to those who suffer” it says on one of them.
The barricades that were set up already on Sunday evening still surround the building – and armed police guard the many entrances.
People of all ages are standing around wiping their tears.
Three lost lives
Three lives were lost when a 22-year-old Danish man for 13 minutes had to shoot wildly around him inside one of Denmark’s largest shopping centers.
A total of ten people were hit by his shots.
Four were seriously injured. On Tuesday afternoon, it is reported that these are now out of danger.
– We must fight for a safe Denmark
The ceremony started with a song from the choir Ungklang and the singer Andreas Odbjerg.
Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Christian of Denmark also attended the memorial ceremony. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was first on the podium.
– Tonight we are gathered to remember three lives that ended all, all too quickly, says a clearly affected Frederiksen.
The Prime Minister also highlights the humanity that emerges after the shooting. And comes with a call:
– We must fight for a safe Denmark.
Frederiksen praises the police, ambulance personnel and the entire rescue crew for a fantastic effort on Sunday after the shooting at Field’s.
– Do not want American conditions
After Frederiksen, it is the turn of Copenhagen Mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen to speak.
Copenhageners will not be intimidated, she says.
– We live in a fantastic area that many people dream of living in. We must not find ourselves shooting in our streets. We do not want American conditions, says the mayor.
A minute’s silence was then observed for the victims and their relatives.
Copenhagen stops, and it is completely quiet on the square which just days ago was full of terrified people who escaped from the bullets.
Motive unknown
On Monday, the 22-year-old man charged with murder was remanded in custody in a closed psychiatric ward for 24 days.
– A psychiatric assessment of him will be taken as soon as possible, said Søren Harbo in the Copenhagen police just after the prison meeting.
The 22-year-old is charged with three murders and seven attempted murders.
The motive is still unknown. Police have moved away from the theory of terror, and the victims who were hit must have been random.
– Ticking bomb
NRK has spoken to several Danes in recent days in Copenhagen, who have expressed a great need for a comprehensive effort on mental health.
In a psychiatric report that Ekstra Bladet refers to, it is stated that many more murders in Denmark could have been avoided if psychiatry could provide the right treatments.
– Psychiatry in this area is a ticking bomb, says forensic psychiatrist Gitte Ahle to the newspaper.
The Capital Region of Denmark announced today that they will investigate the perpetrator’s contact with psychiatry.