Earlier, the police said that the 22-year-old Dane was known to specialists in the field of psychiatry.
At a press conference on Monday morning, Copenhagen police chief Soren Thomassen said that two 17-year-old Danish citizens, a man and a woman, and a 47-year-old Russian citizen were killed in the shootout.
Two other Danes and two Swedish nationals were shot and are in hospital in a critical but stable condition, while several others suffered minor injuries while leaving the mall, Thomassen said.
A man arrested in connection with the shooting is currently the only suspect. Thomassen said there is no indication that the suspect acted with others, but the investigation is ongoing.
Earlier, police said they took the suspect 13 minutes after receiving the first 911 call, and that he “was with a rifle and ammunition” at the time of his arrest.
At a press conference on Monday, Thomassen said there was no indication that the attack was an “act of terror” and was not motivated by gender, and police believe the victims were chosen at random. According to him, the suspect was “known to people in the field of psychiatry.”
Mass shootings in Denmark are rare
As investigators piece together the circumstances leading up to Sunday’s fatal shooting, questions are being asked about how the suspected shooter could have obtained the weapons and ammunition used in the attack, as Denmark is believed to have some of the strictest gun laws in the country. Europe. .
While in the United States gun ownership is conditionally guaranteed by the US Constitution, in Denmark the right to private gun ownership is not guaranteed by law, according to GunPolicy.org, an organization that tracks international firearms policy.
Through restrictive licensing, the Danish authorities are trying to reduce gun violence by substantially reducing the number of firearms in circulation. According to GunPolicy.org, a firearms license applicant in Denmark must pass a background check that looks at criminal and mental health.
Only licensed gun owners may legally acquire, own, or transfer firearms or ammunition. According to GunPolicy.org, applicants for a gun owner’s license in Denmark must state a genuine reason for owning a firearm, such as hunting, target shooting, collecting.
Danish police on Monday confirmed that the suspect in the shooting did not have a permit, according to Thomassen, Copenhagen’s police chief.
“Run, run, run, they’re still shooting”
Eyewitness Joachim Olsen, a former Danish politician and sportsman, told CNN that he was heading to the gym on the Field’s grounds when he saw large groups of people leaving the mall.
“It looked like something, unfortunately, something you would see during a U.S. school shooting where people come out with their hands up above their heads,” Olsen said.
“People are running out looking for friends and calling friends and family who were inside, some talking to friends who were inside,” he said. “Old people with their hands on the necks of the people who carry them, their feet just dragging on the floor.”
Outside the mall, Olsen spoke to a man who spoke to an on-duty paramedic whose hands “were covered in blood to the elbows.”
“He wanted to come back, but the police wouldn’t let him,” Olsen said.
According to Olsen, security was trying to drive the crowd away from the mall.
“At some point we were kicked out. The police came and said, “Run, run, run, they’re still shooting.”
A spokesman for Rigshospitalet, Denmark’s largest hospital, told CNN that the hospital had taken in several casualties and called in additional staff to provide emergency care.
A victim phone line has been set up and police have said they have set up a central location where eyewitnesses can get support and report their experiences to law enforcement officials.
“We were all cruelly pulled out of the bright summer that had just begun. It’s incomprehensible. Heartbreaking. It makes no sense. Our beautiful and usually so safe capital has changed in a split second,” said Frederiksen.
The Danish Royal House said in a statement: “Our thoughts and deepest sympathy go out to the victims, their families and all those affected by the tragedy.”
President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola also expressed her solidarity with the people of Denmark.
Journalist Suzanne Garjulo reported from Copenhagen.
