3 dead in Copenhagen shopping mall shooting

Copenhagen, July 4 (IANS) Three people were killed and several others injured, three of them critically, during a shooting at a Copenhagen shopping mall, one of the biggest in Denmark, police confirmed on Monday.

"A man in his 40s and two teenagers were killed" in the shooting at Field's Shopping Center located in the Amager district, Copenhagen Chief Police Inspector Soren Thomassen said at a press conference on Monday.

At around 5.35 p.m. on Sunday evening, police received a call regarding the incident, according to Thomassen.

At 5.48 p.m., a 22-year-old Danish man in possession of a rifle and ammunition was arrested outside the shopping mall, he said.

The motive for the shooting remains unknown and the suspect will face questioning by a judge on Monday.

Thomassen said the police cannot rule out the possibility of a terror attack so far.

On Sunday night, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Denmark had suffered a cruel attack.

"Denmark was hit by a cruel attack on Sunday night... Several were killed. Even more wounded. Innocent families shopping or eating out. Children, adolescents and adults.

"Our beautiful and usually so safe capital was changed in a split second," the BBC quoted the Prime Minister as saying.

Denmark's royal family said their "deepest sympathy" was with "the victims, their relatives and all those who are affected by the tragedy".

"We do not yet know the full extent of the tragedy, but it is already clear that more people have lost their lives and that even more have been injured," said the joint statement by Queen Margrethe, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary.

The Field's opened in 2004 and is the second largest shopping mall in Denmark.

It has more than 140 shops and restaurants.

The last time Denmark witnessed a major terror incident was in 2015, when two people were killed and six police officers were injured during an attack on a cultural centre and a synagogue in Copenhagen.

The gunman was later killed in a shootout with police.