Several people killed in Copenhagen mall shooting: Danish police

Several people have been killed and injured in a shooting at a shopping mall in Denmark’s capital Copenhagen, Danish police said

The suspected gunman, who is in custody, is a 22-year-old Danish man who was detained near the Fields shopping mall, said police inspector Soren Thomassen, head of the Copenhagen police operations unit, on Sunday.

“There are several injured, and what we also know now is that there are several dead,” Thomassen told a news conference, adding that a motive of “terrorism” cannot be ruled out.

He said the police had launched a massive search operation throughout the local Zealand region to determine whether the suspect had accomplices.

“We do not have information that others are involved. This is what we know now,” he said.

Police said they were first alerted to the shooting at 5:36 pm local time (15:36 GMT).

The shopping centre is on the outskirts of Copenhagen, just across from a subway line that connects the city centre with the international airport. A major highway also runs adjacent to Field’s.

Local media published images showing heavily armed police officers at the scene, as well as people running out of the mall.

Witnesses quoted by Danish media said they saw more than 100 people rush towards the mall’s exit when the first shots were heard.

Laurits Hermansen told Danish broadcaster DR that he was in a clothing store at the shopping centre 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”.

Al Jazeera’s Nadeem Baba, reporting from London, said: “This will be a huge shock for people in Denmark … it was a very peaceful Sunday afternoon.”

British singer Harry Styles was due to perform at 8pm (18:00 GMT) at a concert venue less than a mile (1.6km) from the mall.

The concert will go ahead as scheduled after close dialogue with the police, and half of the audience has already entered the venue, the concert promoter Live Nation said in an emailed comment to Reuters news agency.

On Snapchat, Styles wrote ”My team and I pray for everyone involved in the Copenhagen shopping mall shooting. I am shocked. Love H.”

Shortly after the shooting, the royal palace said a reception with Crown Prince Frederik connected to the Tour de France cycling race had been cancelled. The first three stages of the race were held in Denmark this year, the palace said in a statement.

The reception was due to be held on the royal yacht that is moored in Soenderborg, the town where the third stage ended.

The shooting comes just over a week after a gunman opened fire outside a gay bar in Oslo in neighbouring Norway, killing two people and wounding 21 others.