Several people were “hit” by gunfire late Sunday afternoon in a large shopping center in Copenhagen, Danish police said. “We don’t yet know for sure how many are injured or dead, but it’s very serious,” Copenhagen Mayor Sophie H. Andersen said on Twitter. Police confirmed in the evening that there were “several deaths” as a result of the shooting.
Two days after the Tour de France passed through the Danish capital, these shots were fired at the end of the afternoon inside the Fields shopping center in the Amager district, located between the city center and the capital’s airport.
“One person has been arrested in connection with the shooting. We are unable to immediately reveal more about their identity,” police said on Twitter early in the evening. According to local media, he was a 22-year-old “ethnic Dane”. Police gave no indication of the motives for the shooting. During a press conference, the police chief of Copenhagen did not want to confirm or deny that it was a terrorist attack.
After gunshots reported by witnesses, significant police reinforcements were dispatched to the outskirts of this vast shopping mall.
Footage from the scene showed paramedics carrying an injured person on a stretcher and mothers consoling their children in their arms.
Police did not immediately specify the number or condition of the victims. According to national television DR, three people were hospitalized, but this assessment does not include possible support on the spot.
A crisis unit has been triggered, according to the mayor of Copenhagen.
“We are on the scene, shots have been fired and several people have been hit,” the police announced shortly after on Twitter.
Authorities have called on people potentially in the building to wait inside for help to arrive, and on all others to stay away from the area.
Around 7:30 p.m. local time (5:30 p.m. GMT), the roads around the shopping center were blocked with a large security perimeter, metro traffic was cut off and a helicopter was flying over the area, according to an AFP journalist on the spot.
Heavily armed police prevent residents from returning to their homes.
The site of the attack is near a major concert hall, the Royal Arena where a concert by British singer Harry Styles was to start at 8:00 p.m.
The last attack in Copenhagen dates back to February 14 and 15, 2015, when a series of Islamist-motivated shootings left two dead and five injured.