A gunman opened fire in a Copenhagen shopping center, one of the largest of its kind in Scandinavia, killing several people and wounding others on Sunday, police said.
Police Inspector Soren Thomassen, head of the Copenhagen Police Operations Unit, said the suspect, who is being held, is a 22-year-old Danish man who was arrested near the Fields shopping centre.
“We know there are many dead” and “many wounded,” Thomassen told a news conference, adding that terrorism could not be ruled out. “We have no information that others were involved. That’s what we know now.”
Thomassen did not mention a specific number of casualties, except to say that several people were killed and several others were injured. He said the suspect was of “Danish ethnicity,” a phrase commonly used to refer to a person being white.
Earlier Sunday, Copenhagen Mayor Sophie Andersen tweeted: “Horrific reports of shootings in Fields. We don’t yet know for sure how many people have been injured or killed, but it is very serious.”
Pictures from the site showed people running outside the mall, and Danish channel TV2 published a picture of a man on a stretcher. Witnesses said people were crying and hiding in stores.
Ritzau Scanpix/Olafur Steinar-Guestson via Reuters
Loritz Hermansen told Danish broadcaster Dr. that he was in a clothing store in the shopping center with his family when he heard “three to four bangs. Really loud bangs. It looked like shots were being fired right next door.”
There was a large presence of heavily armed police officers, with several fire trucks parked outside the mall.
Copenhagen police said: “One person has been arrested in connection with the shootings in Fields. We cannot currently say more about the person involved.” chirp. “We have a huge presence in Fields and we’re working on getting an overview.”
The shopping center is located on the outskirts of Copenhagen, opposite an underground line that connects the city center with the international airport. A major highway also runs next to the fields, which opened in 2004.
A concert by former One Direction member Harry Styles was scheduled for 8pm (1800 GMT; 2pm EST) at the nearby Royal Arena. Danish media reported that the concert was cancelled.
On Snapchat, Styles wrote, “My team and I are praying for everyone involved in the Copenhagen shopping mall shooting. I’m shocked. Love E.”
Shortly after the shooting, the royal palace said a reception with Crown Prince Frederick linked to a cycling race in France had been cancelled. The palace said in a statement that the first three stages of the race were held in Denmark this year. The reception was scheduled to take place aboard a royal yacht moored in Soenderborg, the city where Phase III ended.
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