The man believed to be involved in twin shooting attacks at a cafe and a synagogue in Danish capital Copenhagen has been shot dead, police said on Sunday.
The police said that according to the video surveillance the man who they killed, was the same who staged shooting at a free speech event at Krudttoenden cafe in the capital on Saturday and also at Copenhagen`s main synagogue early Sunday.
“We believe the same man was behind both shootings and we also believe that the perpetrator who was shot by the police action force at Noerrebro station is the person behind the two attacks,” Chief police inspector Torben Moelgaard Jensen said.
The Danish police shot dead a man who opened fired on the cops at Noerrebro station – not far from the sites of earlier attacks.
After the police called out to the man, he “opened fire against the police and was thereafter shot”, police said in a statement.
Just hours after the deadly attack at a cafe event in Danish capital Copenhagen left one person dead and three injured, another shooting incident was reported at a synagogue at Krystalgade.
According to the police, one person was shot in the head and two police officers were shot in the arms and legs. Speaking to a Danish TV channel, Jewish Community chairman Dan Rosenberg Asmussen said that the man who was killed was a Jewish guard.
The Copenhagen Jewish community leader added that he had contacted police after the earlier attack at Krudttoenden cafe and requested their presence at the synagogue, but police did not follow through, the Guardian reported citing Asmussen’s comments to Denmark’s TV 2 News.
“We had contacted the police after the shooting at Café Krudttønden to have them present at the bat-mitzva, but unfortunately this happened anyway,” Asmussen told Denmark’s TV 2 News, as reported in The Guardian. “I dare not think about what would have happened if (the killer) had access to the congregation.”
The shooter fled the spot leaving one person killed and two injured.
The capital is on high alert and the Denmark police has launched a massive manhunt for the shooter. The police are yet to ascertain if the two shooting are connected or there are more than one shooters involved. The police have instructed the citizens to stay indoors as more such attacks may be imminent as the shooter remains at large.
Meanwhile, the US White House has condemned the shooting events in Denmark. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has expressed solidarity for the Jewish community in Copenhagen.
An earlier shooting at a free speech event organised by Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks left one dead and three injured.
The incident happened at Krudttoenden Cafe where a gunman fired shots as an event titled Art, Blasphemy and the Freedom of Expression was being hosted by Lars Vilks, a Swedish cartoonist, who is known to have drawn controversial caricatures of Prophet Muhammad in past.
The police have confirmed that the cartoonist was the target of the cafe attack. The police have issued a photo of the suspect in Copenhagen cafe shooting which shows him donning a maroon balaclava and a puffed jacket. The suspect sped off in a Volkswagen Polo, which was later found abandoned a short distance away from the scene, according to the police.
Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, confirmed the shooting as a terrorist attack and said the whole country was on high alert.
“We feel certain now that it’s a politically motivated attack, and thereby it is a terrorist attack. Our main priority at this stage is to catch the perpetrators and make sure that we find them as soon as possible,” she said.
