Terror in Copenhagen - how it unfolded

The alleged assassin was named by media sources as 22-year-old Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, who was born and raised in Denmark. According to reports he was linked to a Copenhagen gang and was only released from prison 14 days ago after serving a sentence for assault, writes Seven59.dk.

According to the police he has not travelled abroad to the Middle East but was attempting to copycat last month’s Paris shootings on the Charlie Hebdo office and a kosher grocery store.

Police launched a massive manhunt in the capital after the suspect fired shots at the Krudtønden Café in Østerbro, where controversial Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has faced numerous death threats for caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad, was one of the main speakers at a post-Charlie Hedbo event titled “Art, Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression.” Finn Nørgaard, film director and alumnus of Film and Communication at UCPH was killed, while three police officers were wounded.

Prime Minister: Cynical acts of violence

Hours later a gunman opened fire at two police officers outside the synagogue – both were wounded in the arms and legs while a Jewish man, Dan Uzan, also a UCPH economics alumnus, received a head wound and later died.

Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt condemned the ‘cynical acts of violence’ that bore all the signs of terrorism. French President Francois Hollande called the shootings ‘deplorable’ and said Thorning-Schmidt has the ‘full solidarity of France.’

Below is a video from TomoNews with a timeline of the events over the weekend:

Fear and powerlessness

Police were on high alert throughout Sunday and raided a number of apartments in immigrant areas of the capital, including one in the social housing complex of Mjølnerparken, which was full of Pakistani immigrants watching cricket. 30-year-old Sheheryar Khan who’s resided in Denmark for three years and works as an IT consultant said: “What’s happened in Copenhagen was terrible and unjustifiable but it was very scary to see the police ransacking my apartment. Fortunately I have nothing to hide.”

Arrests were also made at an internet café on Nørrebrogade.

Sunday and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said at a press conference that “We will forever defend democracy and Denmark”.

“We as a nation have lived through a day we will never forget. We tasted the fear and powerlessness that terrorism creates but as a society we responded – the police, without hesitation, carried out their duty to protect others and I’d like to thank them for their efforts over the past 24 hours.”

She later released an English-language statement which said that “Denmark is an open, free and peaceful democracy. This will not change. We will defend our society and stand by its fundamental values,” saying that in the aftermath “people should go about their business as usual”.

No room for naiveté

Justice Minister Mette Frederiksen warned of more police on the streets of Copenhagen over the next few weeks as the capital recovers from the weekend’s tragic events, reports Seven59.dk

At a Ministry of State press conference, Sunday, alongside Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the Minister said Denmark has suffered ‘a foul, cowardly attack’ and the focus right now is on securing the public’s safety and security. She added that the situation could have been far worse if the police hadn’t already been placed on a higher level of terror alertness, but tried to calm the situation by stating that the threat level of a terrorist attack hasn’t been heightened after the weekend’s shootings. She said:

“I would like to thank our brave and very competent police for their efforts over the past day and night. Unfortunately, there’s no room for naiveté, neither now or in the future, and we need to come up with a very visible response. Both the police and Danish Intelligence (PET) have our full support and respect and I’m sure the public feels the same.”

Selected Danish article links. Report on politiko.dk and b.dk

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