Gunman in rampage at mall

Agunman opened fire in a Copenhagen shopping centre, one of the largest of its kind in Scandinavia, killing several people and wounding a number of others yesterday, police said.

The suspected gunman, who is in custody, is a 22-year-old Danish man who was detained near the Fields shopping centre on the southern outskirts of the capital, said police inspector Soren Thomassen, head of the Copenhagen police operations unit.

“We know that there are several dead” and “several injured,” Mr Thomassen told a news conference, adding that terror cannot be ruled out.

“We do not have information that others are involved.

“This is what we know now.”

He did not provide any further details on the victims or suspect, or say how many people were killed or wounded.

The shopping centre is on the outskirts of Copenhagen just across from a subway line that connects the city with the international airport.

Images from the scene showed people running out of the mall, and Denmark’s TV2 broadcaster posted a photo of a man being put on a stretcher.

Witnesses said people were crying and hid in shops.

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

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.”

Police said they were first alerted to the shooting at 5.36pm local time. A huge presence of heavily-armed officers arrived at the scene, with several fire department vehicles also parked outside the mall.

A concert by former One Direction band member Harry Styles that had been scheduled to take place at 8pm at the nearby Royal Arena was cancelled after the shooting.

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

ORDEAL: Shoppers were evacuated from the Fields shopping centre in Copenhagen.