Gunman dead, possibly inspired by Paris attacks
IS LINK? Denmark police investigating if attacker had travelled to Syria or Iraq
COPENHAGEN/BERLIN: Danish police shot and killed a man early Sunday suspected of carrying out shooting attacks at a free speech event and then at a Copenhagen synagogue, killing a Danish documentary filmmaker and a member of the Scandinavian country’s Jewish community. Five police officers were also wounded in the attacks.
“Denmark has been hit by terror,” Danish PM Helle ThorningSchmidt said. “We do not know the motive for the alleged perpetrator’s actions, but we know that there are forces that want to hurt Denmark. They want to rebuke our freedom of speech.”
Jens Madsen, head of the Danish intelligence agency PET, said investigators believe the gunman was inspired by Islamic radicalism, “PET is working on a theory that the perpetrator could have been inspired by the events in Paris. He could also have been inspired by material sent out by the Islamic State group”.
Madsen added that police have not yet ascertained if the man had travelled to conflict zones, “including Syria and Iraq,” but he said it was at “the absolute centre of investigations.”
Islamic radicals carried out a massacre at the Charlie Hebdo newsroom in Paris last month, followed by an attack on Jews at a kosher grocery store, taking the lives of 17 victims.
At a news conference Madsen also said investigators have identified the suspect and that he is someone who had been on the agency’s “radar.” He did not reveal his identity.
Meanwhile, the German city of Braunschweig cancelled a planned carnival parade on Sunday because of a “specific threat of an attack”, police said.
The event was called off following a tip by “reliable state security sources,” police said in a statement. “Police request all visitors not to go to the parade,” the statement said. Lars Vilks, who was speaking at the free speech event when the shooter opened fire, may have been the real target The 68-year-old artist has survived several death threats for a cartoon portraying the Prophet Mohammed as a dog. He has also survived a foiled assassination plot
In 2010, seven people were held in Ireland over an alleged plot to kill Vilks, who had a $100,000 bounty on his head In January 2014, an American woman was jailed for 10 years for agreeing to murder him