Gunman ‘likely planned to flee Denmark’ after February attacks

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Denmark’s intelligence agency says the gunman who fatally shot a filmmaker and a Jewish guard in February before being killed by police likely planned to leave the country after the attacks.

The PET agency said in a report that Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, of Palestinian heritage, got a new Danish passport nine days before the killings.

PET’s report, dated February 16 and obtained on Wednesday by The Associated Press, said the passport “could indicate that he planned to travel, for instance to Syria, after the attack.”

It has never been established whether El-Hussein, whose parents were Palestinian, had been radicalized, although in September 2014 he had been flagged by prison authorities to PET as being “at risk of radicalization.”

The 22-year-old had served time for a stabbing on a Copenhagen commuter train before the shooting.

PET said it “cannot evaluate” whether (he) had planned the attacks, adding El-Hussein “could have chosen to direct his weapon at random civilians. Instead, he chose symbolic targets.”

On February 14, El-Hussein gunned down the filmmaker at a free speech event with an M95 assault rifle. He then sprayed the entrance with 27 bullets, wounding three police officers inside. The event was attended by Lars Vilks, a Swedish artist who has received numerous death threats for caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad.

Several hours later, El-Hussein killed Jewish security guard Dan Uzan and wounded two police officers outside Copenhagen’s main synagogue using two handguns, while a bat mitzvah took place inside.

He was shot dead by a SWAT team hours later.