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Police Say They Killed Suspect in 2 Attacks in Copenhagen Police Say They Killed Suspect in 2 Attacks in Copenhagen
(about 4 hours later)
LONDON — The Copenhagen police said on Sunday that they had shot and killed a man they believed carried out two attacks that left two people dead, one at a cafe and one outside a synagogue, and wounded at least five policemen.LONDON — The Copenhagen police said on Sunday that they had shot and killed a man they believed carried out two attacks that left two people dead, one at a cafe and one outside a synagogue, and wounded at least five policemen.
The first attack took place on Saturday, when a gunman sprayed bullets into the cafe where a Swedish cartoonist who had caricatured the Prophet Muhammad was speaking, killing one man. Hours later, early Sunday, a man was shot and killed outside the city’s main synagogue, according to the police. The police have identified the suspect but did not name him; they said Sunday that he was from Copenhagen and previously “known” to the security and intelligence services. But they said that there is no indication that he had traveled to Syria or Iraq to fight as a jihadist.
Dan Rosenberg Asmussen, a leader of Denmark’s Jewish community, told the Danish public broadcaster DR that the victim at the synagogue was a young Jewish man who was guarding the entrance of a building adjacent to the synagogue. He said that some 80 people were inside the synagogue at the time, celebrating a Bat Mitzvah, and that the police had been asked to provide protection after the cafe shooting. The first attack took place on Saturday, when a gunman sprayed bullets into the cafe where a Swedish cartoonist who had caricatured the Prophet Muhammad was speaking. That attack killed one man, who was identified on Sunday by the Danish media as Finn Norgaard, 55, a film director. Hours later, early Sunday, a man was shot and killed outside the city’s main synagogue, according to the police.
Dan Rosenberg Asmussen, a leader of Denmark’s Jewish community, said that the victim at the synagogue was a young Jewish man who was guarding the entrance of a building adjacent to the synagogue. He said that some 80 people were inside the synagogue at the time, celebrating a bat mitzvah, and that the police had been asked to provide protection after the cafe shooting. Denmark’s chief rabbi, Jair Melchior, identified the Jewish victim as Dan Uzan, 37, a longtime security guard.
The dual attacks in Copenhagen had a copycat resemblance to last month’s attacks in Paris, which began with gunshots aimed at cartoonists and followed with gunshots aimed at a Jewish target.The dual attacks in Copenhagen had a copycat resemblance to last month’s attacks in Paris, which began with gunshots aimed at cartoonists and followed with gunshots aimed at a Jewish target.
Later Sunday, Jorgen Skov, a police inspector, said at a news conference in Copenhagen that the police had shot and killed the suspect after he opened fire on officers near the Norreport train and subway station in the Norrebro neighborhood. The shooter was confronted by the police as he returned to an address that they were keeping under surveillance, Mr. Skov said, suspecting that the man had been involved in the killings. The police have no indication for the moment that other suspects were involved, he said. “Denmark has been hit by terror,” the Danish prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, said on Sunday. “We do not know the motive for the alleged perpetrator’s actions, but we know that there are forces that want to hurt Denmark. They want to rebuke our freedom of speech.” She added: “This is not a war between Islam and the West.”
Torben Moelgaard Jensen, a senior police official, said: “We believe the same man was behind both shootings and we also believe that the perpetrator who was shot by the police action force at Norrebro station is the person behind the two attacks.” She later visited the Copenhagen synagogue and said: “The Jewish community is a large and integrated part of Danish society,” adding, “Together we will shield Denmark from the kind of attack we saw last night.”
It was a dramatic day in Copenhagen, with 30 shots fired Saturday afternoon into a cafe at a public seminar on “Art, Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression,” intended to discuss the January attack in Paris on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, the satirical newspaper that had reprinted Danish cartoons of Muhammad. The event featured a Swedish cartoonist, Lars Vilks, 68, who had drawn a 2007 cartoon of Muhammad as a dog at a traffic circle and was on a “death list” drawn up by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as was the murdered editor of Charlie Hebdo, Stéphane Charbonnier. Jorgen Skov, a police inspector, said at a news conference on Sunday in Copenhagen that the police had shot and killed the suspect after he opened fire on officers in the Norrebro neighborhood. The shooter was confronted by the police as he returned to an address that they were keeping under surveillance, Mr. Skov said. The police suspected that the man had been involved in the killings, in part because of information from video surveillance and from a taxi driver who had picked up the suspect. When the suspect returned to his address at 4:50 a.m., the police said, he responded to their shouts with gunfire and was killed.
One man, 55, and still unidentified by the authorities, was killed in the cafe attack and three police officers were wounded. Mr. Vilks, who is under 24-hour police guard, was well-protected by both the Swedish and Danish police who prevented the gunman, who had shot up the front of the cafe, from entering it. The man escaped in a small Volkswagen, later abandoned, and hours later, just after midnight, the Jewish man was shot in the head and killed in central Copenhagen, near the synagogue. Two more police officers were wounded and again the gunman escaped, this time on foot. Torben Moelgaard Jensen, a senior police official, said: “We believe the same man was behind both shootings, and we also believe that the perpetrator who was shot by the police action force at Norrebro station is the person behind the two attacks.” The police have no indication for the moment that other suspects were involved, he said.
The center of Copenhagen was shut down, the Norreport station was evacuated and the police told residents to stay inside as they conducted their manhunt in the trendy Norrebro neighborhood. It was a dramatic day in Copenhagen, with 30 shots fired Saturday afternoon into a cafe at a public seminar on “Art, Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression,” intended to discuss the January attack in Paris on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, the satirical newspaper that had reprinted Danish cartoons of Muhammad. The event featured a Swedish cartoonist, Lars Vilks, 68, who had drawn a cartoon in 2007 of Muhammad as a dog at a traffic circle and was on a “death list” drawn up by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as was the murdered editor of Charlie Hebdo, Stéphane Charbonnier.
In addition to the killing of the film director in the cafe attack, three police officers were wounded. Mr. Vilks, who is under 24-hour police guard, was well-protected by both the Swedish and Danish police who prevented the gunman, who had shot up the front of the cafe, from entering it. The man escaped in a small Volkswagen, later abandoned, and hours later, just after midnight, the Jewish man was shot in the head and killed in central Copenhagen, near the synagogue. Two more police officers were wounded and again the gunman escaped, this time on foot.
The center of Copenhagen was shut down, and the police told residents to stay inside as they conducted their manhunt in the trendy Norrebro neighborhood.
The latest violence comes as Europe is increasingly on edge after the January attacks in Paris, when 17 people died, representing the worst spasm of terrorism in France in decades. Anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment is rising in Europe, as are incidents of anti-Semitism.The latest violence comes as Europe is increasingly on edge after the January attacks in Paris, when 17 people died, representing the worst spasm of terrorism in France in decades. Anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment is rising in Europe, as are incidents of anti-Semitism.
European governments, like Denmark, are also trying to understand and stop young Muslims from traveling to Syria and Iraq to fight as jihadis. At least 5,000 Europeans are estimated to have already done so — at least 100 of them Danish — and there are fears that some of those fighters will return home to commit domestic terrorism. European governments, like Denmark, are also trying to understand and stop young Muslims from traveling to Syria and Iraq to fight as jihadists. At least 5,000 Europeans are estimated to have already done so — at least 100 of them Danish — and there are fears that some of those fighters will return home to commit domestic terrorism.
Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt of Denmark had earlier on Saturday called the shooting at the Krudttoenden cafe a terrorist attack and said that the nation was on high alert. “We feel certain now that it was a politically motivated attack, and thereby it was a terrorist attack,” Ms. Thorning-Schmidt said. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, decried the attack and said that his government encouraged a “massive immigration” of Jews from Europe. “This wave of attacks is expected to continue, as well as murderous anti-Semitic attacks,” said Mr. Netanyahu, who is in the middle of a tight election campaign. “Jews deserve security in every country, but we say to our Jewish brothers and sisters, Israel is your home.”
Speaking to reporters in Copenhagen on Sunday, according to Danish television station TV2, Ms. Thorning-Schmidt said: “This is not a war between Islam and the West. We will do our best to defend our democracy and Denmark.” Rabbi Melchior responded that he was “disappointed” by Mr. Netanyahu’s comments, saying: “Terror is not a reason to move to Israel.”
The Swedish cartoonist, Mr. Vilks, was unharmed in the attack but said that he thought he was the target. “What other motive could there be?” he told the Associated Press. Jewish organizations called for more protection for Europe’s Jews. Rabbi Menachem Margolin, general director of the European Jewish Association, accused European Union leaders Sunday of not doing enough to combat what he called “rampant anti-Semitism.”
Ms. Thorning-Schmidt, the prime minister, had on Saturday called the shooting at the Krudttonden cafe a terrorist attack and said that the nation was on high alert. “We feel certain now that it was a politically motivated attack, and thereby it was a terrorist attack,” she said.
The Swedish cartoonist, Mr. Vilks, was unharmed in the attack but said that he thought he was the target. “What other motive could there be?” he told The Associated Press.
The French ambassador to Denmark, who had been at the event, wrote on Twitter that he also was not hurt, as did Inna Shevchenko, the leader of Femen, the feminist group known for its bare-breasted protest demonstrations. The ambassador, François Zimeray, told Agence France-Presse: “They fired on us from the outside. It was the same intention as Charlie Hebdo, except they didn’t manage to get in.”The French ambassador to Denmark, who had been at the event, wrote on Twitter that he also was not hurt, as did Inna Shevchenko, the leader of Femen, the feminist group known for its bare-breasted protest demonstrations. The ambassador, François Zimeray, told Agence France-Presse: “They fired on us from the outside. It was the same intention as Charlie Hebdo, except they didn’t manage to get in.”
Helle Merete Brix, one of the organizers of the event, said she believed Mr. Vilks had been the intended target. During the shooting, she said, she moved with Mr. Vilks into a cold storage room, as some French survivors did during the siege of a kosher market in Paris after the Charlie Hebdo attack. “I was in a cold room and kept hold of Lars Vilks’s hand,” she told Denmark’s TV2. “He was very cool. We stood and told each other bad jokes.”Helle Merete Brix, one of the organizers of the event, said she believed Mr. Vilks had been the intended target. During the shooting, she said, she moved with Mr. Vilks into a cold storage room, as some French survivors did during the siege of a kosher market in Paris after the Charlie Hebdo attack. “I was in a cold room and kept hold of Lars Vilks’s hand,” she told Denmark’s TV2. “He was very cool. We stood and told each other bad jokes.”
Ms. Brix said Mr. Vilks’s bodyguards had done “a tremendous job” and added, “It is a dramatic and unpleasant reminder of what we are up against in these times.”Ms. Brix said Mr. Vilks’s bodyguards had done “a tremendous job” and added, “It is a dramatic and unpleasant reminder of what we are up against in these times.”
Remarkably, she said, the seminar continued after the shooting.Remarkably, she said, the seminar continued after the shooting.
Niels Ivar Larsen, one of the speakers at the event, said: “I heard someone firing with an automatic weapon 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, said: “I heard someone firing with an automatic weapon and someone shouting. Police returned the fire, and I hid behind the bar. I felt surreal, like in a movie.”
The French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, called the shooting a terrorist attack, and President François Hollande said he would send the French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, to consult with the Danes.The French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, called the shooting a terrorist attack, and President François Hollande said he would send the French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, to consult with the Danes.
The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, called the attack at the cafe “another brutal terrorist attack targeted at our fundamental values and freedoms, including the freedom of expression.”The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, called the attack at the cafe “another brutal terrorist attack targeted at our fundamental values and freedoms, including the freedom of expression.”
The Charlie Hebdo columnist Patrick Pelloux said late on Saturday: “We are all Danish tonight.”The Charlie Hebdo columnist Patrick Pelloux said late on Saturday: “We are all Danish tonight.”
Mr. Vilks said that he was under constant threat and that the Swedish police had increased their protection of him after the Charlie Hebdo killings. He told The Wall Street Journal last month that he had to coordinate his outings with the police because he “can’t go anywhere without a police escort.”Mr. Vilks said that he was under constant threat and that the Swedish police had increased their protection of him after the Charlie Hebdo killings. He told The Wall Street Journal last month that he had to coordinate his outings with the police because he “can’t go anywhere without a police escort.”
He said artists and satirists should not tread more carefully in their criticism of Islam than they would in criticizing any other religion. “Almost the entire Muslim world is subject to a theological rule that has a strange outcome when it comes to human rights,” he said. “You can’t ignore that. Then you’re talking tactics, how should one go about to change that. Some say you should be very careful, but that’s just postponing the problem. Sooner or later, you have to explain what you’re criticizing.”He said artists and satirists should not tread more carefully in their criticism of Islam than they would in criticizing any other religion. “Almost the entire Muslim world is subject to a theological rule that has a strange outcome when it comes to human rights,” he said. “You can’t ignore that. Then you’re talking tactics, how should one go about to change that. Some say you should be very careful, but that’s just postponing the problem. Sooner or later, you have to explain what you’re criticizing.”
Mr. Vilks is also known as a conceptual sculptor and something of a provocateur, building sculptures in protected nature reserves in Sweden. He originally drew his Muhammad cartoons for a local art exhibition, which withdrew them, fearing protests. Other Swedish galleries also declined to show the drawings, but in August 2007, a regional newspaper, Nerikes Allehanda, published one of them to illustrate an editorial on self-censorship and freedom of religion. Protests and death threats ensued. Mr. Vilks is also known as a conceptual sculptor and something of a provocateur, building sculptures in nature reserves in Sweden. He originally drew his Muhammad cartoons for a local art exhibition, which withdrew them, fearing protests. Other Swedish galleries also declined to show the drawings, but in August 2007, a regional newspaper, Nerikes Allehanda, published one of them to illustrate an editorial on self-censorship and freedom of religion. Protests and death threats ensued.
In 2010, the police discovered plots against Mr. Vilks’s life, and he was assaulted while giving a lecture on free speech at Uppsala University in Sweden. Last year, a Pennsylvania woman was sentenced to a 10-year prison term for a plot to kill him, and in 2010, two brothers were jailed after trying to burn down his house.In 2010, the police discovered plots against Mr. Vilks’s life, and he was assaulted while giving a lecture on free speech at Uppsala University in Sweden. Last year, a Pennsylvania woman was sentenced to a 10-year prison term for a plot to kill him, and in 2010, two brothers were jailed after trying to burn down his house.