The 22-year-old gunman — a Dane whose identity has not been released — opened fire with a rifle on Sunday at Field’s shopping center in Copenhagen, killing a 17-year-old girl and boy, as well as a 47-year-old Russian man. Four others are hospitalized in critical but stable condition. Authorities have ruled out the possibility of the attack being linked to terrorism. “There is nothing in our investigation, or the documents that we have looked at, or the things that we have found, or the witness statements that we have taken, that can establish that this is a terrorist act,” Copenhagen police chief Søren Thomassen said. reporters on Monday. Terrified shoppers leave the Field shopping center in Copenhagen after a gunman opened fire on Sunday, killing three and wounding four others. Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty ImaOne said she saw people running out of a cinema as shots rang out. Getty Images / Olafur Steinar Gestsson Investigators have not identified what sparked the attack, in which witnesses said the “enraged” gunman targeted shoppers while smashing windows. Thirty people were injured in all, many during a frenzied stampede to get out of the mall. The last major mass shooting in the country was in 2015 – when two people were killed and six police officers were injured at a cultural center and synagogue in Copenhagen. The Danish suspect in Sunday’s attack illegally obtained the rifle and another weapon. He was also known to mental health providers in Denmark, Thomassen said without elaborating. Thomassen previously described the gunman as an “ethnic Dane,” which is usually used to describe someone who is white. Four others were hospitalized in critical but stable condition. AP/Olafur Steinar Gestsson The gunman was described as an “ethnic Dane,” usually used to describe someone who is white. AP/Olafur Steinar Rye Gestsson The suspect appeared for a hearing Monday in a packed courtroom, where he was arraigned on charges of murder and four counts of attempted murder. The alleged gunman’s lawyers refused to appeal the proceedings, which were ordered to be held behind closed doors, according to the BBC. Investigators are looking into videos of a young man with weapons that have been circulating on social media since Sunday, according to the agency. A teenage girl said she saw people running out of a movie theater as shots rang out. “I didn’t really know where to get out as I don’t know the mall that well, so I just followed a big group to some type of roof and luckily we found an emergency exit,” 13-year-old Isabella Hjertholm told the BBC. Shoppers hug each other as police evacuated the Field mall in Copenhagen where three people were fatally shot on Sunday.Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Ima Some shoppers hid in bathrooms and storage closets during the shooting. Getty Images/OLAFUR STEINAR GESTSSON The suspect was taken into custody about 13 minutes after officers were alerted to the shooting, the BBC reported. The shooting sent shoppers into a panic and prompted singer Harry Styles to cancel a Sunday night show in the Danish capital. Some of the shoppers told Danish media that they hid in bathrooms or storage closets as the chaos unfolded, the BBC reported. “All of a sudden we hear gunshots – 10 gunshots, I think – and then we run through the mall and end up in a toilet where we huddle together in this tiny toilet where there are about 11 of us,” said a woman who gave her name as Isabelle. “It’s very hot and we’re waiting and we’re very scared. It was a terrible experience.” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, meanwhile, described Monday’s attack as “unusually brutal” as millions of Danes celebrated over the weekend and tuned in to watch the start of the Tour de France on Friday. “I think we’ve rarely experienced such strong opposition as we did yesterday,” Fredericksen told reporters, according to the New York Times. “In a split second, the party and the joy stopped and the worst happened to us.” With Post cables
