The man behind a shooting at a Copenhagen shopping mall that left three people dead and several injured was jailed for 24 days on Monday after facing preliminary questioning at a municipal court, Danish police said.
The 22-year-old Danish suspect, who on Sunday afternoon opened fire on shoppers at Field’s shopping mall, a few kilometers south of central Copenhagen, was arrested and charged with manslaughter and intent to kill.
He will be held in custody in a closed psychiatric ward, officials said.
The incident rocked Denmark at the end of a week it hosted the first three stages of the Tour de France cycling race and hundreds of thousands of cheering Danes took to the streets across the country.
The gunman, whose name is subject to a publication ban, shot and killed two 17-year-olds, a man and a woman, and a 47-year-old Russian citizen who lives in Denmark. Four other people were also injured by gunshots.
Three of them are stable and one remains in a critical condition, a health official with the Danish emergency medical services said.
Among the injured are two Swedish nationals, a 50-year-old man and a 16-year-old woman.
The incident cannot be seen as a “terrorist act” based on current evidence, Chief Police Inspector Soren Thomassen told reporters on Monday, adding that there is no indication that the suspect acted in concert with others. .
“There was some sort of deliberation and preparation (by the suspect) for this terrible event,” Thomassen told a news conference without providing details on the criminal’s possible motives.
“Our current assessment is that these are random victims.”
Several people were slightly injured as they fled the scene, but not by gunfire.
The attack came as many young people crowded into the mall ahead of a concert by British singer Harry Styles in Copenhagen on Sunday night, not far from the mall. The concert was cancelled.
“I am heartbroken along with the people of Copenhagen. I love this city. People are so warm and full of love. I am devastated for the victims, their families and all the injured,” Styles wrote on Twitter.
“I’m sorry we can’t be together. Please take care of each other.”
The suspect, whom police said was known to psychiatrists in Denmark, was in possession of a rifle, ammunition and a knife when he was arrested.
Danish gun laws are strict and all artifacts, with the exception of some hunting rifles, require a license issued by the police. The types of weapons used by the suspect were legal, the official said, but the gunman was not licensed to use them.
Denmark’s biggest cinema operator, Nordisk Film, which has a location in Field’s shopping mall, said it decided to close its cinemas across the country on Monday due to the shooting.
Copenhagen police will hold another press conference on the ongoing investigation at 11:00 am ET.
Source: CNN Brasil
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