Published: Less than 40 minutes ago
Sunday shopping turned into a nightmare when a rifle-armed man suddenly started firing inside the Fields shopping center, outside Copenhagen.
Hundreds of people ran for their lives. During thirteen minutes of terror, three people were killed and seven people were shot.
– The sound of the shots is played over and over in my head, says Swedish Miriam Lidbrant.
At 17.35, the Sunday shopping at Fields shopping center, south of Copenhagen, turned into a nightmare. A man armed with a rifle opens fire on people in the mall.
For 13 minutes, people flee for their lives before the man is finally arrested by police.
– From the time we receive the alarm to the time we arrest the suspect, it takes 13 minutes. The 13 minutes feel like an eternity, says Dennie Riise, police inspector.
Swedish Miriam Lidbrant, who works at a café inside Fields, says that she heard two piles of bangs – then panic broke out.
– People in our coffee bar are starting to run towards our emergency exit. Other people from the mall also came running to us. Then my colleague and I run out with them on the back road. Via the corridors, we get to our goods elevator, says Miriam Lidbrant.
Miriam and the visitors take the goods elevator down to the parking garage. In the elevator, they hear another sharp bang. Then they come down to street level and get out. On the street, they meet a woman who offers to call the police. But they never have time to dial the number before panic breaks out again.
– I hear someone shouting that someone has been shot. Then my colleague and I continue to run further away. We finally find security in his apartment, which is nearby, she says.
Hear the shots echo in your head
Today, a day after the shooting, Miriam still hears the shots echoing over and over in her head. But it was the uncertainty that was worst.
– The worst was after the shots, when we run in panic, then we do not know how many perpetrators there are and we do not know if it is just shots or if it is bombs as well. It is not known where security is.
Ali Hisanawi and his two friends were also in the mall when the shooting broke out.
– We heard four shots, just above us, and then we ran out. We ran towards the hotel. There were many who ran, says Ali Hisanawi.
When Ali and his friends were on their way to the hotel, they were told that the perpetrator was on his way there. So then they changed direction towards the adjacent Royal Arena. And they were not alone in escaping the perpetrator. Chaotic scenes unfolded as hundreds of people fled in panic.
Filmed the suspected perpetrator
34-year-old restaurant manager Mahdi Al-Wazani lost his two-year-old daughter in the riot. When he discovered this, he went up to the top floor again to try to find the girl. The floor was completely empty except for the perpetrator.
– He stood with a rifle against his shoulder and seems very proud of what he has done, says Mahdi Al-Wazani.
Mahdi says that it is as if all the emotions disappear from his body. He calls it a “Black out”. Despite this, Mahdi manages to get his mobile phone and starts filming the perpetrator. As a way to get evidence for the police should he be shot.
– The perpetrator sees that I am filming. He’s just saying it’s not “genuine”. He says that three times. Suddenly he runs away.
Later it turned out that Mahdi’s daughter had been helped to hide in a small office in a clothing store. A total of eight people had hidden there during the shooting.
Tired, thirsty but unharmed, the daughter could be reunited with her father again after two and a half hours.
Three dead and seven wounded
But it did not end so well for everyone. Three people lost their lives in the fatal shooting and seven were shot.
– The three are a 17-year-old Danish man, a 17-year-old Danish woman and a 46-year-old Russian man who lived in Copenhagen, says police inspector Dennie Riise.
Another seven people were shot and in addition, 20 people sustained minor injuries in the panic that erupted when people fled the mall.
Tanja Andersen, who lives a stone’s throw from the mall, could not believe her eyes when she saw people running on the street. Several of them sought refuge in her stairwell. Then she invited them into her apartment.
– It’s the least you can do. It was young people who cried and were afraid, says Tina Andersen.
Tina Andersen was back outside Fields on Monday morning. She had brought flowers which she placed at the entrance.
– It’s awful to think about. They were such young people, she says with tears in her eyes.
Mahdi Al-Wazani was also back outside Fields on Monday. He wanted to process the impressions and try to understand what had happened.
– It was hard. My hands shook when I came here.
At a press conference on Monday afternoon, the police announced that the suspected shooter, a 22-year-old Danish man, has been arrested on suspicion of three murders and seven attempted murders.