Copenhagen Shooting: What We Know About the Alleged Gunman, Accomplices

The 22-year-old alleged gunman has been identified.

ByABC News
February 16, 2015, 10:49 AM

— -- The 22-year-old alleged gunman in a pair of deadly attacks in Copenhagen, Denmark had a criminal past and was involved in gangs, police said.

Officials have not formally identified the alleged gunman, who an investigator said was later killed in a shootout with police, but a public defender representing an accused accomplice identified him as Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein.

The young man also had a history of violence and may have been inspired by Islamic terrorists, possibly including the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris, police said.

This undated police handout image released on Feb. 16, 2015 shows Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, the slain gunman suspected in the deadly Copenhagen attacks that occurred on Feb. 14, 2015.

Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said that, despite the arrests of two alleged accomplices, it did not appear the gunman was part of a wider terror cell. However, she added, the nature of the targets -- a synagogue and a free-speech event -- suggested acts of terrorism.

"This is a conflict between the core values of our society and violent extremists," Thorning-Schmidt said.

PHOTO: A police handout photo shows Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein from an earlier occasion where he stabbed a person in a train on Nov. 22, 2013. El-Hussein is suspected of being involved with the deadly Copenhagen attacks, which occurred on Feb. 14, 2015.
A police handout photo shows suspect Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein from an earlier occasion, where he stabbed a person in a train on Nov. 22, 2013. El-Hussein is suspected of being involved with the deadly Copenhagen attacks, which occurred on Feb. 14, 2015.

Between the two attacks, El-Hussein went to an Internet cafe, according to police, but it is not known what he did during the 25-minute visit.

Police also arrested two alleged accomplices accused of giving El-Hussein "advice and assistance," police said today. Michael Juul Eriksen, the defense attorney for one of the two suspects who identified El-Hussein as the gunman, told public broadcaster DR that the two were accused of giving the gunman shelter and getting rid of a weapon.

A police investigator works at the scene of a shooting that occurred the day before at a free speech event in Copenhagen, Feb. 15, 2015.

The two alleged accomplices were arraigned and ordered jailed today at a closed-door custody hearing, according to the AP.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.