Monthly Archives: February 2015

Shots rang out Saturday afternoon at a cafe in Copenhagen, Denmark, killing one person and wounding three police officers during a freedom of speech event hosted by controversial Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, police said. As authorities continued searching for the lone shooter, Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt put the entire nation on high alert and condemned the violence as a "terrorist attack."

"We feel certain now that it was a politically motivated attack, and thereby it was a terrorist attack," she told reporters close to the site of the shooting. An event organizer said that Vilks was present at the conference, but was not injured.

The suspect fled after gunfire erupted around 4 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET) at Krudttoenden cafe in the Osterbro district, Copenhagen police said in a statement. A surveillance photo shows the suspect wearing dark clothes and a scarf. Police said initial interviews indicate only one person fired the shots, and had left the scene in a dark-colored Volkswagen Polo that had been carjacked. The car was later found.

The TV2 channel said there were some 30 bullet holes in the window of the cafe and at least two people were taken away on stretchers. Police told NBC News that one person was killed but it was unclear whether the victim, described as a civilian, died at the scene.

Inna Shevchenko, the leader of Ukrainian feminist group FEMEN, tweeted that she was participating in a panel discussion at the cafe when the shooting occurred. "I didn't see anything. I heard about 20 shots while speaking and then people started to run," she wrote.

Vilks has faced numerous death threats for caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad in 2007. A Pennsylvania woman last year got a 10-year prison term for a plot to kill Vilks. In 2010, two brothers tried to burn down his house in southern Sweden and were imprisoned for attempted arson.

The event that the 68-year-old artist was hosting Saturday was called "Arts, Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression," according to his website. When the artist is in Denmark, he receives police protection.

Swedish artist Lars Vilks talks during an interview with the Associated Press in Stockholm, Sweden, on March 10, 2010.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

First published February 14 2015, 8:10 AM

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Shots Fired at Copenhagen Free Speech Event: Reports

AP Photo/Polfoto, Mikkel Tariq Khan Emergency services gather outside a venue after shots were fired where an event titled "Art, blasphemy and the freedom of expression" was being held in Copenhagen, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015. Danish media say several shots have been fired at a cafe in Copenhagen where a meeting about freedom of speech was being held, organized by Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has faced numerous threats for caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad in 2007.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) At least one gunman opened fire Saturday on a Copenhagen cafe, killing one man in what authorities called a likely terror attack during a free speech event organized by an artist who had caricatured the Prophet Muhammad.

The shooting, which also wounded three police officers, came a month after extremists killed 12 people at a satirical newspaper in Paris that had also sparked Muslim outrage with its depictions of Muhammad.

Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has been repeatedly threatened after depicting Muhammad as a dog in 2007, organized and attended Saturday's event but was not hit by gunfire, police said.

"I saw a masked man running past," said Helle Merete Brix, one of the event's organizers. "I clearly consider this as an attack on Lars Vilks."

She and Vilks were quickly ushered away by the security detail that accompanies the artist whenever he is in Denmark.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the shooting, which took place shortly before 4 p.m. (1500 GMT, 10 a.m. EST). Denmark's security service, PET, said the circumstances surrounding the shooting "indicate that we are talking about a terror attack."

Danish police said the gunman used an automatic weapon to shoot through the windows of the Krudttoenden cafe, which TV footage showed were riddled with bullet holes. The gunman then fled in a carjacked Volkswagen Polo that was found later a few kilometers (miles) away, police said.

"I heard someone firing with an automatic weapons 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, told the TV2 channel.

Police initially said there were two gunmen but later said they believed there was only one shooter, and described him as 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.

Originally posted here:

1 dead in shooting at Copenhagen free speech event

A man has died after at least one gunman opened fire on a cafe in the Danish capital of Copenhagen, which was hosting a freedom of speech debate.

Three policemen were also injured in the shooting at the debate organised by Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has faced numerous threats for caricaturing the Prophet Mohammed.

Denmarks security service PET said the circumstances surrounding the shooting indicate that we are talking about a terror attack.

Danish police said the gunman used an automatic weapon to shoot through the windows of the Krudttoenden cafe, which TV footage showed were riddled with bullet holes. The gunman then fled in a hijacked Volkswagen Polo that was found later a few miles away.

Police initially said there were two gunmen but later said they believed there was only one shooter, and described him as 25 to 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.

The shooting came a month after Islamic militants attacked another media outlet that had printed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris, killing 12 people.

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

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the shooting, which took place shortly before 4pm local time.

Helle Merete Brix, one of the organisers of the event, said Mr Vilks was present at the event but not injured.

She said: I saw a masked man running past. I clearly consider this as an attack on Lars Vilks.

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One dead after shots fired at Copenhagen freedom of speech meeting