Armed with a rifle and a pistol, the man in the vest and shorts fired into the crowd, shouting that his ammunition was blank: “It’s not real!” However, the shooting that took place yesterday afternoon at the Field’s shopping center in Copenhagen has left three dead and four seriously injured, three in critical condition.
Police have reported that the attacker, a 22-year-old Dane, was arrested “without drama” and would have acted alone. The young man has a psychiatric history, as confirmed by the Danish Police, who added that at the moment there are no indications of “a terrorist act.”
Just a couple of hours after the events, videos allegedly featuring the perpetrator of the shooting began to circulate on Danish social networks, in which he is identified by name and surname. In them, with clothes and weapons similar to those used in Field’s, he points himself in the temple or puts the barrel in his mouth.
Rumors spread on the internet affirm that it could be an attack with racist motivations, but at the moment the Police have no record of it. Chief Inspector Søren Thomassen revealed that the attacker has a record for “minor reasons” and declined to comment on whether he has received any kind of psychiatric treatment.
“There is no indication that he has accomplices,” Thomassen added. The three deceased are two Danish teenagers, both 17 years old, and a 47-year-old Russian installed in Denmark. Among the four seriously injured are two Danes, aged 19 and 40, and two Swedes, aged 50 and 16. “Our conclusion is that he chose the victims at random,” the inspector said.
The cry of “It’s not real!” is heard in a video recorded by a witness during the attack. In the images, an armed man is first seen walking calmly through the shopping center and stopping to shoot. Later, he is seen running upstairs screaming.
Mahdi Al-Wazni, the man who filmed the scenes, recounted his experience to various Danish media: “I was in the restaurant area when we heard people screaming and running. I told my older brother to help me gather the children to escape. Suddenly, I realized that my two-year-old daughter was not there, and while looking for her, I ran into this individual.”
“He was 200 meters from me and he had a hunting shotgun. I took out my cell phone to record in case he started shooting. My only goal was to find my daughter. He was wearing hunting clothes. Shorts, a black vest and a cap on upside down. I could see I was recording him. He laughed and said they weren’t real shots. Maybe he was trying to trick me into getting closer. He was shooting and smashing shop windows,” added Al-Wazni, who eventually found his daughter safe and sound. .
The shopping center, the largest in Copenhagen, is located in the Amager district, near Kastrup airport. At the time of the attack it was full of people, in part because just 700 meters away, in the multipurpose pavilion Royal Arena, the popular British singer Harry Styles was going to give a concert. Many of the attendees, especially teenage girls, had been to Field’s before heading to the event.
Although at first it was announced that the concert would take place, it was finally suspended and the public was evacuated by subway under the supervision of a large number of agents from the security forces.
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