Denmark: shooter dead, 2 arrested, Finn Norgaard, Dan Uzan named as victims
Copenhagen police say they have shot dead a man, Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, they believe was behind two deadly attacks in the Danish capital hours earlier. Monday morning, officials confrimed the other two men arrested would be in court today.
El-Hussein, a 22-year-old man born in Denmark, had a criminal record including violence and weapons offenses, Copenhagen police said in a statement. He opened fire on a SWAT and the firefight in the Norrebro district left the terrorist dead.
Finn Norgaard
Finn Norgaard was killed and three police officers injured at a free speech debate in a cafe on Saturday.
In the second attack, a Jewish man was killed and two police officers wounded near the city’s main synagogue.
Police say video surveillance suggested the same man carried out both attacks.
Initially police said he appeared to be a “lone wolf,” but the investigation pointed to help from others.
Norgaard, 55, is a Danish film maker, who was attending the panel discussion on blasphemy when he was killed in the shooting Saturday at the free speech event.
Police said after El-Hussein was killed, he was found with weapons. “It was the case that when the suspect was shot and killed during police action, he was armed with pistols,” said police commissioner Thorkild Fogde at a press conference.
“Denmark has been hit by terror,” Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said. “We do not know the motive for the alleged perpetrator’s actions, but we know that there are forces that want to hurt Denmark. They want to rebuke our freedom of speech.”
Jens Madsen, head of the Danish intelligence agency PET, said investigators believe the gunman was inspired by Islamic radicalism.
“PET is working on a theory that the perpetrator could have been inspired by the events in Paris. He could also have been inspired by material sent out by (the Islamic State group) and others,” Madsen said.
The second victim was named as Dan Uzan, 37. He had been on security duty while a bat mitzvah ceremony was taking place inside the synagogue. Uzan was a longtime security guard for the 7,000-strong community.
photo/ Gunnar Bach Pedersen
