Police and rescue vehicles near the shopping center where several people were shot dead on Sunday night in a shooting at a shopping center in Copenhagen.
– When we get there, we catch a suspect in the immediate vicinity of Fields. He is in custody now and now we are working on the testimonies we have received, says Søren Thomassen at the Copenhagen Police at a press conference on Sunday evening.
According to Thomassen, the arrest was “relatively undramatic”, reports the news agency Ritzau.
No exact number of dead or injured was reported during the press conference.
TT’s dispatch, which a few hours later was at the shopping center where the deed took place, describes a feeling of silence and waiting.
Everyone’s eyes are fixed on the entrance, where there are four ambulances, two ambulances and five or six police cars. Police officers with reinforcement weapons stand at the roadblocks and a single cyclist is rejected.
Crisis preparedness in Copenhagen
The alarm came to the Copenhagen police at half past five.
During the evening, Rigshospitalet confirmed to Danmarks Radio that three people were being treated urgently in hospital.
At the same time, the Mayor of Copenhagen, Sophie Hæstorp Andersen, announced on Twitter that she has raised the level of preparedness in the City of Copenhagen to emergency preparedness.
“We do not yet know for sure how many are injured or killed, but it is very serious,” she wrote.
Søren Thomassen, head of the Copenhagen Police during Sunday night’s press conference. Does not rule out terror
Later, the police say that there are no indications that there are more perpetrators than the 22-year-old man who has been arrested.
– Of course, we now focus on finding out if the perpetrator acted alone or if it was something that was done together with others, says Søren Thomassen.
But much is still uncertain, he continues. So does the motive.
– We are investigating this as an incident where we can not rule out that it is an act of terrorism. In other words, we cannot rule out terrorism.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday evening that it currently has no information about dead or injured Swedes.
“Create security”
The shopping center, Fields, is located on Amager near Kastrup Airport.
Pictures from the event show how panicked people run out of the mall.
People are fleeing the shopping center in Copenhagen, where gunfire has occurred.
Shortly after several media outlets at 6 pm had started reporting on a possible shooting, the Copenhagen Police wrote on Twitter that a “large number of police officers are present at Fields after we received reports of shootings”.
A quarter of an hour later, the police announced that “shots have been fired and several people have been hit”. At the same time, the police urged people inside the shopping center to “stop and wait for the police” and that “all other people must stay away”.
The shooting is reported to have taken place next to the shopping center’s restaurant department.
Hid
Danish TV2 has spoken to a person who was at a restaurant in the shopping center when the shooting began.
– Suddenly we saw how people started running towards the exits and then we heard a bang. Then we also ran out, says the person, who on the way out heard two more bangs.
Armed police on site at the mall.
Other witnesses talk of just over a handful of bangs.
Another eyewitness tells Berlingske that he and others hid on the roof before he finally managed to get out and escape the place.
– Everyone ran in all directions. People shouted, he tells the newspaper.
A sold-out concert with pop star Harry Styles was scheduled for Sunday night, a ten-minute walk from the mall. The concert has now been canceled, reports DR.
On Twitter, the Copenhagen Police urges those who have been to the shopping center to contact their relatives.
Police on site at an ambulance outside the mall.