BackCopenhagen shooting: Suspect remanded in Psychiatric ward for 24 days
The suspected gunman had reportedly tried to reach a psychological help line shortly before the attack
PremiumA 22-year-old Danish man, the suspected perpetrator of the Copenhagen mall shooting has been remanded into a psychiatric care facility for 24 days.
The Copenhagen police on Monday confirmed that the court remanded the chief suspect of the attack in a closed psychiatric ward, adding that he would be kept in custody for at least 24 days, which can then be extended.
The man was presented before a judge at midday at the Copenhagen district court on Monday.
The suspected gunman had tried to reach a psychological help line shortly before the attack, but authorities would not confirm this, according to public broadcaster DR, citing several unnamed sources.
The attack came close on the heels of the city playing host to the start of the Tour de France cycling competition and seeing the return of the Roskilde music festival after being cancelled due to COVID curbs.
Three people were killed and three others were left in critical condition after a shooting rampage Sunday at a shopping mall in Copenhagen.
Copenhagen police inspector Søren Thomassen had said the three victims were a man in his 40s and "two young people."
The Danish man opened fire inside a busy shopping mall in the Danish capital Sunday, killing several people and wounding several others, police said.
The man was arrested, Copenhagen police inspector Søren Thomassen told reporters, adding there was no indication that anyone else was involved in the attack, though police were still investigating.
Thomassen had said it was too early to speculate on the motive for the shooting, which happened in the late afternoon at Field's, one of the biggest shopping malls in Scandinavia and located on the outskirts of the Danish capital. When the shots rang out, some people hid in shops while others fled in a panicked stampede, witnesses said.
Danish broadcaster TV2 published a grainy photo of the alleged gunman, a man wearing knee-length shorts and a tank top and holding what appeared to be a rifle in his right hand.
Images from the scene showed people running out of the mall, and TV2 posted a photo of a man being put on a stretcher. After the shooting, an enormous contingent of heavily armed police officers patrolled the area, with several fire department vehicles also parked outside the mall.
The shopping centre is on the outskirts of Copenhagen just across from a subway station for a line that connects the city centre with the international airport. A major highway also runs adjacent to the mall.
Organisers called off the Harry Styles concert, which had been scheduled at the nearby Royal Arena, by order of police.
The attack rocked Denmark at the end of an otherwise joyful week, just after it hosted the first three stages of the Tour de France cycle race. The event had sent hundreds of thousands of cheering Danes into the streets across the country.
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