Police in Copenhagen say they have shot dead a man they believe was behind two deadly attacks in the Danish capital hours earlier.Police say they killed the man in the Norrebro district after he opened fire on them. It came after one person was killed and three police officers injured at a free speech debate in a cafe on Saturday.In the second attack, a Jewish man was killed and two police officers wounded near the city’s main synagogue.Police say video surveillance suggested the same man carried out both attacks. They do not believe any other people were involved.”We assume that it’s the same culprit behind both incidents, and we also assume that the culprit that was shot by the police task force… is the person behind both of these assassinations,” Chief Police Inspector Torben Molgaard Jensen told a news conference.He said police would maintain a high presence in the city.Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said it was “a very sad morning” and described the shootings as “a cynical act of terror against Denmark”.”I am happy and relieved that police have disarmed the alleged perpetrator behind the two shootings,” she said in a statement. “I will continue to encourage everyone to follow police instructions and be vigilant.”She later visited the synagogue and said Denmark would do everything to protect its Jewish community.Early on Sunday, police said they had been keeping an address under observation in the district of Norrebro, waiting for the occupant to return.
The address, near Norrebro train station, had been identified using information from a taxi driver who dropped the suspect there following the first attack on Saturday.When the man appeared, he saw the officers, pulled out a gun and opened fire, police said. They returned fire and shot him dead.A massive manhunt had been launched after the first shooting, which took place during a free speech debate at the Krudttonden cultural centre hosted by controversial Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks. Officials said the gunman fled by car, and a black Volkswagen Polo was later found abandoned a short distance from the scene. Police said the gunman then called a taxi to take him home.
Police released photographs showing the alleged attacker wearing a purple balaclava and thick puffer jacket.
Hours later, a gunman opened fire outside a synagogue in Krystalgade street, about 5km from the scene of the first attack, killing a Jewish man and wounding two police officers.Denmark’s Chief Rabbi Jair Melchior named the victim as Dan Uzan, 37. He had been on security duty while a Bar Mitzvah ceremony was taking place inside the synagogue.
French President Francois Hollande said Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve would visit the Danish capital on Sunday.US National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said they had been in touch with their Danish counterparts and were ready to help with the investigation.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Jewish people in Europe to migrate to Israel following what he described as a “wave of attacks” on Jews in recent weeks.”This wave of attacks will continue. I say to the Jews of Europe – Israel is your home,” he told a cabinet meeting.Cartoonist Lars Vilks, who has faced death threats over his caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, said he believed he was the intended target of the first attack. He was unhurt.The French ambassador, Francois Zimeray, was also present during the attack.A description of the debate at the cafe asked whether artists could “dare” to be blasphemous in the wake of attacks by Islamist gunmen in Paris last month against satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.In the French attacks, two gunmen opened fire at Charlie Hebdo’s office, shooting dead 12 people. The next day a suspected accomplice of the militants shot dead a policewoman and later took hostages at a Jewish shop, killing four of them. All three attackers were eventually shot dead by police and security services.
