Denmark shoot susp ‘known in psych field’
A gunman accused of killing three shoppers in a Copenhagen mall acted alone and may have randomly selected his victims, Danish police said Monday.
The 22-year-old Danish suspect, whose identity was withheld by court order, appeared in court Monday to face preliminary charges of murder and attempted murder for the Sunday shooting. .
He was remanded to a secure mental health facility for 24 days, an authority said, adding that he was “known to people in the psychiatric field.” Terrorism was ruled out as a motive.
The slain victims were identified as a 17-year-old boy and 17-year-old girl, both Danish, and a Russian national, 46. Their names were also withheld.
Four others were wounded and hospitalized in critical but stable condition, a Copenhagen police official said.
“It was the worst possible nightmare,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Monday of the “unusually brutal” attack.
A total of 10 people, four men and six women, ranging in age from 15 to 50 were shot — six Danes, two Swedes, a Russian and an Afghani.Nearly two dozen others were injured fleeing the mall as gunfire erupted.
Police nabbed the suspect 13 minutes after the first call came in from Field’s, one of Denmark’s biggest shopping centers.
He was carrying a rifle and a knife and had access to another gun, cops said.
The firearms were illegally obtained. Copenhagen police inspector Dannie Rise on Monday called the investigation a “jigsaw puzzle” despite the theory that the suspect acted alone.
“We need to put together this jigsaw puzzle,” Rise said. “And it is huge.”