Gunman strikes at free-speech event

Free speech event had featured threatened artist.

A man opens fire at a freespeech event in Denmark, killing one man,

carrying a black automatic weapon. They released a blurred photograph of a man wearing dark clothes, with a scarf covering part of his face.

“I saw a masked man running past,” said Helle Merete Brix, one of the event’s organizers. “I clearly consider this as an attack on Lars Vilks.”

Niels Ivar Larsen, one of the speakers at the event, told the TV2 channel that as the attack began, he heard someone shouting and automatic weapons fire.

“Police returned the fire and I hid behind the bar,” he said “I felt surreal, like in a movie.”

Visiting the scene of the shooting, Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said “all indications are that the shooting ... was a political attack and there- fore an act of terror.”

The cultural center had a lecture hall as well as a cafe.

“We were well isolated in there. It would have been much worse if this happened during the break, when people walk out,” Vilks said.

He said he deplored the death and the injuries but was unfazed by the attack.

“I’m not shaken at all by this incident. Not the least,” he said.

Police spokesman Joergen Skov said it was possible the gunman had planned the “same scenario” as in the Charlie Hebdo massacre.

Francois Zimeray, the French ambassador to Denmark, was at the event to speak about the Charlie Hebdo attack. He tweeted that he was “still alive.”

— Prosecutors and civic leaders from several U.S. cities will convene at a White House summit this week to discuss ways of countering violent extremism, eager to share ideas on how to shut off terrorist recruiting pipelines that have sent Western fighters to conflicts in the Middle East and Africa.

The U.S. attorney’s offices from Minneapolis, Los Angeles and Boston will discuss the progress of pilot programs in those cities to stem the causes of radicalization, particularly in their immigrant populations, in hopes of breaking the recruiting cycle.

From Minnesota, which has struggled with the issue for much of the past decade, U.S. Attorney Andy Luger will lead a delegation that includes law enforcement officials and immigrant leaders to Wednesday’s meeting.

Minnesota’s program, developed with Somali community leaders, includes more youth programming, more mentors, expanded job opportunities and training, more dialogue between youth and religious leaders and help affording college.

Luger said his office will also help develop “intervention models” to help parents, relatives and others step in if they suspect a loved one is susceptible to being re-