3 killed, 4 critically wounded in shooting at Copenhagen shopping mall, police say

The suspect -- a 22-year-old man -- was arrested, police said.

LONDON -- At least three people were killed and seven others were critically wounded in a shooting at a Copenhagen shopping mall on Sunday, authorities said.

PHOTO: People are seen running during the evacuation of the Fields shopping center after reports of a shooting in Copenhagen, Denmark, on July 3, 2022.
People are seen running during the evacuation of the Fields shopping center after reports of a shooting in Copenhagen, Denmark, on July 3, 2022.
Olafur Steinar Gestsson/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images

Police responded to reports of a shooting at the Field's shopping center in Denmark's capital just before 5:30 p.m. local time on Sunday. A boy and a girl, both 17-year-old Danish citizens, and a 47-year-old Russian man were killed when a gunman opened fire there, according to Copenhagen chief police inspector Søren Thomassen.

PHOTO: Armed Police arrive at Field's shopping center, after Danish police said they received reports of shooting, in Copenhagen, Denmark, July 3, 2022.
Armed Police arrive at Field's shopping center, after Danish police said they received reports of shooting, in Copenhagen, Denmark, July 3, 2022.
Olafur Steinar Gestsson/Scanpix via Reuters

Four people -- a Swedish 16-year-old girl, a Danish 19-year-old woman, a 40-year-old Danish woman, and a 50-year-old Swedish man -- were "seriously injured," according to police.

Three others, a 15-year-old Danish girl, a 17-year-old Danish girl, and a 45-year-old Afghan citizen who lives in Denmark, were "slightly injured," police said.

Several others suffered minor injuries while fleeing the mall, Thomassen said.

PHOTO: People run in front of the Fields shopping center after reports of shots fired in Oerstad, Copenhagen, Denmark, July 3, 2022.
People run in front of the Fields shopping center after reports of shots fired in Oerstad, Copenhagen, Denmark, July 3, 2022.
Olafur Steinar Gestsson/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

The suspect -- a 22-year-old man with a history of mental health issues -- was arrested at the scene, according to Thomassen. He was expected to be arraigned in a Danish court on Monday on preliminary charges of murder.

He is being held at at a closed psychiatric ward, said authorities, who did not know the gunman's motive for the shooting.

PHOTO: People gather in front of the Fields shopping center during evacuation by armed police in Oerstad, Copenhagen, Denmark, July 3 2022.
People gather in front of the Fields shopping center during evacuation by armed police in Oerstad, Copenhagen, Denmark, July 3 2022.
Olafur Steinar Gestsson/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Thomassen said the victims appeared to have been randomly targeted and the gunman was believed to have acted alone. There was also nothing to suggest terrorism, he said.

"There is nothing in our investigation, or the documents we have reviewed, or the things we have found, or the witnesses' statements we have gotten, that can substantiate that this is an act of terrorism," the police inspector told reporters during a press conference Monday.

The deadly shooting remains under investigation.