Denmark on edge: 2 dead, 5 injured after two shootings in capital

Two people have been killed and five police personnel injured in separate shooting attacks in the Danish capital Copenhagen since Saturday evening, according to media reports Sunday. In the latest incident, one person was killed and two policemen injured in an attack near Copenhagen’s main synagogue, police said in a statement early Sunday. Earlier Saturday evening, a gunman stormed a building in the city and opened fire at a meeting on “Art, Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression”. Significantly, the meeting was being attended by cartoonist Lars Vilks, who had courted controversy for his portrayals of the Prophet Mohammed. However, police said that it was still not clear whether the latest shooting was connected to the earlier attack, BBC reported. A massive manhunt is currently underway.

All resources will be used to find (those responsible) and bring them before a judge. We have some difficult days ahead… But in Denmark, we will never bow to violence.

Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the first shooting, which took place shortly before 4 p.m. on Saturday. Danish police said the gunman used an automatic weapon to shoot through the windows of the Krudttoenden cultural center, which TV footage showed were riddled with bullet holes. The gunman then fled in a carjacked Volkswagen Polo that was later found a few kilometers away, police said. Two of the wounded officers belonged to the Danish security service PET, which said the circumstances surrounding the shooting “indicate that we are talking about a terror attack.” The shootings come a month after extremists killed 12 people at a satirical newspaper in Paris that had sparked Muslim outrage with its depictions of the Prophet.

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

Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who believes he was the target of the attack