The Copenhagen shopping mall shooting was a random attack by a suspect with mental health problems, police said on Monday, as they ruled out terrorism and revealed that two Danish teenagers and a Russian were killed. Police Chief Inspector Søren Thomasen said the unnamed 22-year-old suspect – earlier described as a “national Dane” – acted alone and apparently fired at people at random during the terrifying 13-minute attack that left three dead on Sunday. The officer added that the shooting spree – in a shopping complex packed with shoppers and Harry Styles fans waiting for a concert by the star nearby – was “not terror-related” and that the suspect was “known to psychiatric services” due to his mental PROBLEMS. He said the unnamed suspect was also “only regionally known” to police and would face preliminary murder charges later Monday.
Denmark Shooting: Field’s Shopping Mall in Copenhagen Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Ima Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Ima Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Ima Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Ima
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“There is nothing in our investigation, or the documents that we have reviewed, or the things that we have found, or the witness statements that we have, that can establish that this is a terrorist act,” he said. Chief Inspector Thomassen said the three people killed were a Danish boy and girl, both aged 17, and a 47-year-old Russian man, and that four other people, two Danes and two Swedes, were seriously injured. The officer’s revelations came as disturbing video emerged of the suspect carrying a large Scandinavian target rifle over his shoulder as he entered the Field shopping complex in southern Copenhagen to carry out his attack. Other images show him apparently holding the gun pointed up in front of him as he walks, aiming the gun while on a ladder and then being led away by armed officers in handcuffs with his head down. He was wearing knee length shorts, a dark sleeveless shirt and boots. via REUTERS Other videos showed terrified shoppers fleeing in panic, screaming, while witnesses described people crying and hiding in stores. Police have not released any other early details about the suspect, although a separate video apparently posted by him on YouTube shows him in several videos titled “I don’t care” holding guns to his head. He had also uploaded several playlists shortly before the attack with the headings ‘Killer Music’ and ‘Last Thing to Listen To’ and the message underneath that ‘Quetiapine is not working’. Quetiapine is a medicine used as a treatment for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression and to treat drug addiction. Meanwhile, witnesses today spoke of their horror at the attack. “He looked very violent and angry,” eyewitness Mahdi Al-Wazni told Denmark’s TV2. “He spoke to me and said (the rifle) is not real as I was filming him. He seemed very proud of what he was doing.” Copenhagen Police Inspector Soeren Thomassen / via REUTERS Maximillian von Renteln told the BBC he was “just outside” the Field shopping center yesterday when he heard loud gunshots. “At the time, I didn’t think it was gunshots, but a short time later I saw people running outside – and instinctively I did the same,” he said, describing how a bus he managed to jump on was later boarded by armed police. who ordered passengers to raise their hands before searching a man on board. “Everyone was shocked, no one knew what was going on. There were children on board.” Styles, whose concert at the nearby Royal Arena was canceled after the attack, also expressed his shock and said he was “heartbroken” by the tragedy. “I am devastated for the victims, their families and everyone who has been hurt. I’m sorry we couldn’t be together. Please watch out for each other,” she posted. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen described the attack as “brutal” and that “innocent families shopping or eating out” were among those affected. “Our beautiful and usually so safe capital changed in a split second,” he said in a statement. “I want to encourage Danes to stand together and support each other in this difficult time.”
