Harry Styles has urged the people of Copenhagen to look after each other after his concert in the Danish city was cancelled following a fatal shooting at a nearby shopping centre. The former One Direction star, 28, was due to take to the stage at the Royal Arena venue on Sunday night as part of his highly anticipated Love On Tour shows.
However, on Sunday afternoon Danish police responded to a shooting at the Field’s shopping centre less than a mile from the arena, which is situated on the southern outskirts of the city.
In a tweet, Styles said he was “heartbroken” and “devastated for the victims”. He said: "I’m heartbroken along with the people of Copenhagen,
“I adore this city. The people are so warm and full of love.
“I’m devastated for the victims, their families, and everyone hurting.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t be together. Please look after each other. H.”
Danish police say three people were killed and three others are in critical condition after a shooting at a shopping centre in Copenhagen. A 22-year-old Danish man was arrested after the shooting, Copenhagen police inspector Soren Thomassen told reporters, adding there was no indication that anyone else was involved in the attack, though police were still investigating.
Gun violence is relatively rare in Denmark. Mr Thomassen said it was too early to speculate on the motive for the shooting, which happened in the late afternoon at Field’s, one of the biggest shopping centres in Scandinavia and located on the outskirts of the Danish capital.
Mr Thomassen said the victims included a man in his 40s and two “young people”, without giving details. Several others were injured, three of them critically, he added. He said police received the first reports of a shooting at 5.37 pm, and arrested the suspect 11 minutes later. Mr Thomassen described the suspect as an “ethnic Dane”, a phrase typically used to mean someone is white.
Danish broadcaster TV2 published a grainy photo of the alleged gunman, a man wearing knee-length shorts, a vest or sleeveless shirt, and holding what appeared to be a rifle in his right hand. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the Scandinavian country had been hit by a “cruel attack”.
“It is incomprehensible. Heartbreaking. Pointless,” she said. “Our beautiful and usually so safe capital was changed in a split second.”
Images from the scene showed people running out of the mall, and TV2 posted a photo of a man being put on a stretcher. After the shooting, an enormous contingent of heavily armed police officers patrolled the area, with several fire department vehicles also parked outside the centre.
The royal palace said a reception with Crown Prince Frederik connected to the Tour de France cycling race had been cancelled. The first three stages of the race were held in Denmark this year. The reception was due to be held on the royal yacht that is moored in Soenderborg, the town where the third stage ended.
In a joint statement, Queen Margrethe, her son Crown Prince Frederik and his wife, Crown Princess Mary, said: “We do not yet know the full extent of the tragedy, but it is already clear that more people have lost their lives and that even more have been injured.
“The situation calls for unity and care.”
The shooting came a week after a mass shooting in neighbouring Norway, where police said a Norwegian man of Iranian origin opened fire during a LGBTQ festival, killing two and wounding more than 20. It was the worst gun attack in Denmark since February 2015, when a 22-year-old man was killed in a shootout with police after going on a shooting spree in the capital that left two people dead and five police officers wounded.
