Thread: Shots fired near Copenhagen synagogue

14 February 2015 Last updated at19:41 ET

Shots fired near Copenhagen synagogue



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• Gunman hits Danish blasphemy seminar

Several people have been injured after shots were fired near a synagogue in Copenhagen, Danish police say.

One person was reportedly hit in the head, and two police officers had arm and leg injuries. The attacker is believed to have fled.

It is not clear whether the shooting is connected to an earlier attack on a cafe in the city.

There, a gunman killed one person and injured three at a free speech debate attended by a Swedish cartoonist.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31475803

3 wounded in shooting near Copenhagen synagogue, hours after deadly attack on cafe

Published February 14, 2015 FoxNews.com



NOW PLAYING
Danish police: 1 person confirmed dead at cafe shooting
DEVELOPING: Three people have been injured, including two police officers, in a shooting near a Copenhagen synagogue early Sunday, just hours after a gunman with an automatic rifle opened fire on a cafe hosting a free speech event organized by a controversial Swedish artist who has faced threats for his caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

Police said it wasn't immediately clear if the incident was linked to the earlier shooting that killed one person and wounded two police officers.

In the latest shooting, Copenhagen police say one person was shot in the head while the two officers were shot in the arms and legs. The suspect fled on foot.

Police said the suspect in the earlier shooting at the Krudttoenden cafe drove away in a dark Volkswagen Polo after he sprayed the cafe with some 30 bullets. A 40-year-old Danish man attending the event was killed and three police officers were slightly wounded. Denmark's security service declared the shooting an apparent terror attack.

Lars Vilks, a Swedish artist who has faced numerous death threats for caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad, was one of the main speakers at Saturday's panel discussion, titled "Art, blasphemy and freedom of expression." He was whisked away by his bodyguards unharmed as the shooting began.

Vilks, 68, later told The Associated Press he believed he was the intended target of the shooting.

"What other motive could there be? It's possible it was inspired by Charlie Hebdo," he said, referring to the Jan. 7 attack by Islamic extremists on the French newspaper in Paris. He spoke from an undisclosed location for his own security.

The PET agency said in a statement the circumstances surrounding the shooting "indicate that we are talking about a terror attack."

Several hours after the shooting, Copenhagen Police released a blurry photo of the suspect. They described him as 25-30, 6-feet-tall, "an athletic build with an Arabic appearance." He was wearing dark clothes and had a red "guerrilla scarf" covering part of his face.

Initial reports said police were searching for two gunmen.

The TV2 channel said in a report that police found the the getaway car, which had been carjacked, nearby. The vehicle had been abandoned and there was no sign of the assailant.

A shaken Francois Zimeray, the French ambassador to Denmark who spoke at the conference Saturday, tweeted that he was "still alive."

Related Image



Emergency services gather outside a venue after shots were fired where an event titled "Art, blasphemy and the freedom of expression" was being held in Copenhagen, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015. Danish media say several shots have been fired at a cafe in Copenhagen where a meeting about freedom of speech was being held, organized by Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has faced numerous threats for caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad in 2007. (AP Photo/Polfoto, Mikkel Tariq Khan) DENMARK OUT (The Associated Press)

SkyNews reported that Zimeray told AFP: "They fired on us from the outside. It was the same intention as Charlie Hebdo except they didn't manage to get in."

The gunfire erupted shortly before 4 p.m.

"I heard someone firing with an automatic weapons and someone shouting. Police returned the fire and I hid behind the bar. I felt surreal, like in a movie," Niels Ivar Larsen, one of the speakers at the event, told the TV2 channel.

Helle Merete Brix, one of the event's organizers, told The Associated Press she saw a masked man running past and that two police officers were injured.

"I clearly consider this as an attack on Lars Vilks," she added, saying she was ushered away with Vilks by one of the Danish police guards that he gets whenever he is in Denmark.

Related Image



An armed security officer runs down a street near a venue after shots were fired where an event titled "Art, blasphemy and the freedom of expression" was being held in Copenhagen, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015. Danish media say several shots have been fired at a cafe in Copenhagen where a meeting about freedom of speech was being held, organized by Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has faced numerous threats for caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad in 2007. (AP Photo/Polfoto, Kenneth Meyer) DENMARK OUT (The Associated Press)

French President Francois Hollande called the Copenhagen shooting "deplorable" in a statement and said Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt would have the "full solidarity of France in this trial."

Thorning-Schmidt said Denmark would never yield to violence.

“Denmark was today hit by a cold-blooded act of terror," she said. "Everything points toward the shooting in Østerbro being a political assassination and thus an act of terror."

The cafe in northern Copenhagen is known for its jazz concerts. It was hosting an event titled "Art, blasphemy and the freedom of expression" when shots were fired.

Vilks, 68, has faced several attempted attacks and death threats after he depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a dog in 2007.

A Pennsylvania woman last year got a 10-year prison term for a plot to kill Vilks. In 2010, two brothers tried to burn down his house in southern Sweden and were imprisoned for attempted arson.

After Islamic militants attacked the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris last month, killing 12 people, Vilks told the AP that even fewer organizations were inviting him to give lectures over increased security concerns.

Vilks also said he thought Sweden's SAPO security service, which deploys bodyguards to protect him, would step up the security around him.

"This will create fear among people on a whole different level than we're used to," he said. "Charlie Hebdo was a small oasis. Not many dared do what they did."

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/02...h-meeting-was/

Denmark shootings: Copenhagen police say they killed 'person of interest' in shootout at train station

Published February 15, 2015 FoxNews.com



NOW PLAYINGSecond shooting in Copenhagen

BREAKING NEWS – Copenhagen police killed a man near a train station during a shootout and are investigating whether he can be linked to two shootings that occurred hours earlier at a free speech event and at a synagogue.

Copenhagen police said that the shooting occurred after they had put an address near the station under observation. No officers were injured in the shooting.

The two earlier shootings left two dead and five officers wounded, which stirred fears that another terror spree was underway a month after attacks in Paris left 17 dead.

A gunman opened fire at a synagogue early Sunday killing one person and injuring two hours after an attack at a free speech event organized by a controversial Swedish artist who faced threats for his cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that killed one person and left three officers dead
Police spokesman Allan Wadsworth-Hansen said it was unclear whether the two shootings were linked.

Wadsworth-Hansen says two police officers were wounded in their arms and legs in the shooting near the synagogue, while a civilian man was killed. The suspect fled on foot.

Police said the suspect in the earlier shooting at the Krudttoenden cafe drove away in a dark Volkswagen Polo after he sprayed the cafe with some 30 bullets. A 40-year-old Danish man attending the event was killed and three police officers were slightly wounded. Denmark's security service declared the shooting an apparent terror attack.

Lars Vilks, a Swedish artist who has faced numerous death threats for caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad, was one of the main speakers at Saturday's panel discussion, titled "Art, blasphemy and freedom of expression." He was whisked away by his bodyguards unharmed as the shooting began.

Vilks, 68, later told The Associated Press he believed he was the intended target of the shooting.

"What other motive could there be? It's possible it was inspired by Charlie Hebdo," he said, referring to the Jan. 7 attack by Islamic extremists on the French newspaper in Paris. He spoke from an undisclosed location for his own security.

"At first there was panic. People crawled down under tables," Vilks said. "My bodyguards quickly pulled me away."

The cultural center had a lecture hall as well as a cafe. Vilks said no one in the hall was wounded.

The PET agency said in a statement the circumstances surrounding the shooting "indicate that we are talking about a terror attack."

Several hours after the shooting, Copenhagen Police released a blurry photo of the suspect. They described him as 25-30, 6-feet-tall, "an athletic build with an Arabic appearance." He was wearing dark clothes and had a red "guerrilla scarf" covering part of his face.

Initial reports said police were searching for two gunmen.

The TV2 channel said in a report that police found the getaway car, which had been carjacked, nearby. The vehicle had been abandoned and there was no sign of the assailant.

A shaken Francois Zimeray, the French ambassador to Denmark who spoke at the conference Saturday, tweeted that he was "still alive."

SkyNews reported that Zimeray told AFP: "They fired on us from the outside. It was the same intention as Charlie Hebdo except they didn't manage to get in."

The gunfire erupted shortly before 4 p.m.

"I heard someone firing with an automatic weapons and someone shouting. Police returned the fire and I hid behind the bar. I felt surreal, like in a movie," Niels Ivar Larsen, one of the speakers at the event, told the TV2 channel.

Helle Merete Brix, one of the event's organizers, told The Associated Press she saw a masked man running past and that two police officers were injured.

"I clearly consider this as an attack on Lars Vilks," she added, saying she was ushered away with Vilks by one of the Danish police guards that he gets whenever he is in Denmark.

French President Francois Hollande called the Copenhagen shooting "deplorable" in a statement and said Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt would have the "full solidarity of France in this trial."

Thorning-Schmidt said Denmark would never yield to violence.

“Denmark was today hit by a cold-blooded act of terror," she said. "Everything points toward the shooting in Østerbro being a political assassination and thus an act of terror."

The cafe in northern Copenhagen is known for its jazz concerts. It was hosting an event titled "Art, blasphemy and the freedom of expression" when shots were fired.

Vilks, 68, has faced several attempted attacks and death threats after he depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a dog in 2007.

A Pennsylvania woman last year got a 10-year prison term for a plot to kill Vilks. In 2010, two brothers tried to burn down his house in southern Sweden and were imprisoned for attempted arson.

After Islamic militants attacked the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris last month, killing 12 people, Vilks told the AP that even fewer organizations were inviting him to give lectures over increased security concerns.

Vilks also said he thought Sweden's SAPO security service, which deploys bodyguards to protect him, would step up the security around him.

"This will create fear among people on a whole different level than we're used to," he said. "Charlie Hebdo was a small oasis. Not many dared do what they did."

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/02...n-shootout-at/

Suspected Copenhagen gunman identified as Omar El-Hussein: media

1 hour ago

.View photo
A police officer guards the street around the Noerrebro train station in Copenhagen on February 15, 2015 where a man was shot in a police action following two fatal attacks in the Danish capital (AFP Photo/Claus Bjorn Larsen)

Copenhagen (AFP) - The man suspected of killing two people in shootings in Copenhagen was identified in several Danish media outlets on Sunday as Omar El-Hussein.

Ekstra-Bladet, a Danish tabloid, reported that the 22-year-old was released from jail only two weeks ago after serving a term for aggravated assault.

Police have not confirmed the name but earlier Sunday they identified the suspect, killed in a pre-dawn shootout, as a man aged 22 with a criminal record.

Police said earlier that the man believed to be the perpetrator of this weekend's killings in Copenhagen had a history of assault and weapons offences and links to gangs.

Copenhagen, one of the safest capitals of the world, was in a state of shock after the two killings, one at a meeting on the freedom of speech, another at a synagogue.

El-Hussein was wanted by police in November 2013 for stabbing a fellow passenger on a train, according to Ekstra-Bladet.

This was corroborated by a statement issued by Danish police in 2013 describing an incident in which a man identified as Omar El-Hussein had stabbed a train passenger repeatedly with "a big knife".

Police said earlier it was investigating if the man had received help from others and if he had travelled to conflict zones such as Syria and Iraq.

http://news.yahoo.com/suspected-cope...173654602.html