A Palestinian man suspected of seriously wounding a Danish policeman in a stabbing attack was known to authorities as possibly mentally unstable and a potential radical Islamist, the intelligence service said Wednesday.
The suspect, a stateless Palestinian 25-year-old who was about to be deported from Denmark, was arrested after a manhunt on Tuesday on suspicion of stabbing a policeman at the country's largest reception centre for asylum seekers.
The officer was critically wounded after being stabbed three times in the stomach at the Center Sandholm northwest of Copenhagen, but after surgery his condition was stable.
The suspect, who has not been named, was arrested several hours after the attack and taken into custody.
Denmark's PET intelligence agency said that "according to information received from other Danish authorities, the suspect could have been psychologically unstable, wanted to go to Syria or Iraq, may have been radicalised and could have had sympathies for the Islamic State."
Denmark has also been informed by Swedish authorities that the man was known to police in the country after he opened a fire extinguisher at Justice Minister Morgan Johansson during a visit to a Swedish asylum seekers' centre in March.
Swedish media said the suspect was overpowered at the time by Swedish security services and held for two days. He was due to appear in court in August, but didn't show up, having already left Sweden.
A Palestinian man suspected of seriously wounding a Danish policeman in a stabbing attack was known to authorities as possibly mentally unstable and a potential radical Islamist, the intelligence service said Wednesday.
The suspect, a stateless Palestinian 25-year-old who was about to be deported from Denmark, was arrested after a manhunt on Tuesday on suspicion of stabbing a policeman at the country’s largest reception centre for asylum seekers.
The officer was critically wounded after being stabbed three times in the stomach at the Center Sandholm northwest of Copenhagen, but after surgery his condition was stable.
The suspect, who has not been named, was arrested several hours after the attack and taken into custody.
Denmark’s PET intelligence agency said that “according to information received from other Danish authorities, the suspect could have been psychologically unstable, wanted to go to Syria or Iraq, may have been radicalised and could have had sympathies for the Islamic State.”
Denmark has also been informed by Swedish authorities that the man was known to police in the country after he opened a fire extinguisher at Justice Minister Morgan Johansson during a visit to a Swedish asylum seekers’ centre in March.
Swedish media said the suspect was overpowered at the time by Swedish security services and held for two days. He was due to appear in court in August, but didn’t show up, having already left Sweden.
