Man killed by Copenhagen police believed to be shooter

Danish police said a man they shot and killed near a train station in Copenhagen early Sunday was likely behind two shooting attacks in the capital, one at a free-speech event and another at a synagogue.

Investigator Joergen Skov said the preliminary investigation found nothing that suggests that there were other gunmen involved in the shootings that left two people dead and five police officers wounded.

One of those killed was confirmed to be a Jewish security guard who was working at the synagogue at the time of the attack. The man, whose identity was not made public, was reported to have prevented a much larger attack at the site, according to Israel Radio.

The first shooting happened shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday. Danish police said the gunman used an automatic weapon to shoot through the windows of the Krudttoenden center during a panel discussion on freedom of expression following a series of terror attacks in Paris last month. A 55-year-old man attending the event was killed, while three police officers were wounded. Two belonged to the Danish security service PET, which said the circumstances surrounding the shooting “indicate that we are talking about a terror attack.”

The gunman then fled in a carjacked Volkswagen Polo that was later found a few kilometers away, police said.

A police spokesman said it was possible the gunman had planned the “same scenario” as in the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris.

After searching for the first gunman for hours, police reported the second shooting in downtown Copenhagen after midnight Sunday. Copenhagen police spokesman Allan Wadsworth-Hansen said that a gunman opened fire at two police officers outside the synagogue. They were wounded in the arms and legs but were not in life-threatening condition, while a civilian man was killed. The gunman fled on foot.

Police initially said there were two gunmen at the cultural center, but later said they believed there was only one shooter. They described him as between 25-30 years old with an athletic build and carrying a black automatic weapon. They released a blurred photograph of the suspect wearing dark clothes and a scarf covering part of his face.

Visiting the scene of the first shooting, Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt called it a “political attack and therefore an act of terror.”

Leaders across Europe condemned the violence and expressed support for Denmark. Sweden’s security service said it was sharing information with its Danish counterpart, while US National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said US officials were ready to help with the investigation and have been in touch with their Danish counterparts.

Parts of the Danish capital were cordoned off after the shooting near the synagogue but “it’s not a question of a general curfew. People are allowed to travel around Copenhagen, safely,” Wadsworth-Hansen said.

The Danish Emergency Management Agency urged people in central Copenhagen to text “I’m okay” to their families in a post on its Twitter account.

Last month, four Jewish men were killed in a terror attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris, days after the Charlie Hebdo attack.

AFP and Adiv Sterman contributed to this report.