People laying flowers at the entrance of the Field’s shopping centre
COPENHAGEN, July 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — With the city still reeling from a weekend mall shooting that left three dead, Copenhagen on Tuesday paid tribute to the victims with a memorial service.
“Three lives were taken from us. A man and two young people. Several were injured, the attack has many victims,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told the massive crowd outside the Fields shopping complex.
“Cruel, unjust and senseless. Tonight, we all mourn,” Frederiksen added, as she called for unity in face of the tragedy.
The late afternoon shooting on Sunday shook the city which had just hosted the opening stages of the Tour de France cycling competition and seen the return of the Roskilde music festival after cancellations for Covid-19.
“It’s not hard to imagine ‘what if it was my child?’, I’m the mother of two teenagers,” Sophie Andersen, mayor of Copenhagen said during an address which was followed by a moment of silence.
“Children and young people should not die. They should be immortal,” Andersen added.
Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik was also in attendance at the service where speeches were interspersed with musical performances.
The mood was sombre, with some crying among the many families and young people that had gathered.
The shooting shook the city which had just played hosted the opening stages of the Tour de France cycling competition and seen the return of the Roskilde music festival after cancellations for COVID-19.
“It doesn’t happen in Denmark, it happens in the United States,” Susanne Bulow, a 65-year-old local resident, said.
The Tour de France, back in France, paid tribute to the victims with a minute’s applause before the start of the fourth stage on Tuesday.
The alleged perpetrator of the attack, a 22-year-old Danish man who authorities say was known to mental health services, was remanded in custody in a “closed psychiatric ward” on Monday on murder charges.
Police said Tuesday they had no new information to release about the investigation.
The 22-year-old is suspected of three murders, with those killed being a 46-year-old Russian man residing in Denmark, a 17-year-old girl and a young man of the same age, both Danish.
One of them worked in the cinema in the shopping centre, their employer said.
The suspect is also facing seven counts of attempted murder.
Four of those shot were seriously injured but in stable condition and according to authorities, they are two Danish women aged 19 and 40, a 50-year-old Swedish man and a 19-year-old Swedish woman.
Three others sustained light injuries from the gunfire: two Danish women aged 15 and 17 and a 45-year-old Afghan man living in the Scandinavian country.
About 20 more people sustained light injuries in the panicked evacuation after the shooting.
The Fields shopping centre has been closed since the attack and is expected to reopen on July 11. — NNN-AGENCIES
