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3 dead, 3 critically wounded after gunman opens fire at Copenhagen mall, police say

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Several people were killed and others were wounded when a gunman opened fire at a Copenhagen shopping mall late Sunday afternoon, according to Danish police.

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The incident occurred at the Field’s mall in the Danish capital, according to The Associated Press and the BBC.

Update 7:58 p.m. EDT July 3: Copenhagen police inspector Søren Thomassen confirmed to reporters late Sunday that three people were killed and multiple people were wounded in the shooting, including three currently listed in critical condition, the AP reported.

Thomassen also stated that there is no indication anyone other than the 22-year-old man in custody, who has not been identified publicly, was involved in the attack, but the investigation remains ongoing. He characterized the suspected gunman as an “ethnic Dane,” a phrase typically used to mean someone is white.

The victims included a man in his 40s and two “young people,” but the police inspector declined to provide further details, according to the AP.

Thomassen also confirmed to reporters that the first reports of a shooting were received at 5:37 p.m., and the suspect was arrested 11 minutes later.

Danish broadcaster TV2 published a grainy photo of the alleged gunman, a man wearing knee-length shorts, a vest or sleeveless shirt, and holding what appeared to be a rifle in his right hand. “He seemed very violent and angry,” eyewitness Mahdi Al-Wazni told TV2. “He spoke to me and said it (the rifle) isn’t real as I was filming him. He seemed very proud of what he was doing.”

Update 2:55 p.m. EDT July 3: At a news conference late Sunday, Danish police said “several people” had been killed in the shooting, according to the BBC and The Associated Press.

The suspect, who is custody, is a 22-year-old Danish man who was detained near the Field’s shopping mall, police inspector Søren Thomassen, head of the Copenhagen police operations unit, said during a news conference.

“We know that there are several dead” and “several injured,” Thomassen told reporters. He added that terror cannot be ruled out, according to the AP.

“We do not have information that others are involved. this is what we know now,” Thomassen said.

Field’s is the largest shopping center in Denmark and one of the largest in Scandinavia , with more than 140 shops and restaurants, according to the BBC.

Original report: Copenhagen police said that one person has been arrested but gave no other details.

Emilie Jeppesen, who said she was at the shopping mall when shots were fired, told the Jyllands-Posten newspaper: “You didn’t know what was happening. Suddenly there was just chaos everywhere.”

Laurits Hermansen told Danish broadcaster DR that he was in a clothing store at the shopping center when he heard “three-four bangs. Really loud bangs. It sounded like the shots were being fired just next to the store.”

Police tweeted that “several people have been hit” but did not elaborate, according to the AP.

“One person has been arrested in connection with the shooting at Fields. We currently are not able to say more about the person concerned,” Copenhagen police tweeted. “We have a massive presence at Fields and are working on getting an overview.”

Copenhagen Mayor Sophie H. Andersen tweeted: “Terrible reports of shooting in Fields. We do not yet know for sure how many were injured or dead, but it is very serious.”

British singer Harry Styles was due to perform later in the evening in Copenhagen at a venue less than a mile from the mall, Reuters reported. The concert’s promoter, Live Nation, said in an emailed statement to the news organization that the concert will go on as scheduled since half of the audience already entered the venue.

On Snapchat, Styles wrote, “My team and I pray for everyone involved in the Copenhagen shopping mall shooting. I am shocked. Love H.”