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Copenhagen police confirm identity of attacks gunman

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Copenhagen police late Tuesday confirmed the identity of the suspected gunman behind the weekend's double shooting as 22-year-old Omar El-Hussein.

Police also said that in his first attack, on Saturday, he had unsuccessfully tried to use several entrances to a cultural centre that was hosting a debate on Islam and free speech attended by controversial Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks.

"The Copenhagen police can now confirm the reports published by the press about the alleged perpetrator's identity," it said in a statement.

El-Hussein, a Danish-born man of Palestinian origin, was killed in a shootout with police early Sunday after opening fire at the cultural centre, killing a filmmaker, after which he shot dead a Jewish man outside a synagogue.

Five police were injured in the attacks.

An undated picture released by Copenghagen police in 2013 shows Omar El-Hussein  the man suspected o...
An undated picture released by Copenghagen police in 2013 shows Omar El-Hussein, the man suspected of killing two people in shootings in Copenhagen
, Danish Police/AFP/File

"Questioning and technical investigation shows that the perpetrator upon his arrival at the site first tried to come in through other entrances than the main entrance," police said of the first attack.

On the street outside the cultural centre where the event was being held he met his first victim, whom he shot with a weapon later found on a football field at Mjoelnerparken, the low-income housing estate where he grew up, it said.

Two weapons were used in the attack outside the synagogue, both of which were found on El-Hussein when he was shot dead.

Copenhagen police late Tuesday confirmed the identity of the suspected gunman behind the weekend’s double shooting as 22-year-old Omar El-Hussein.

Police also said that in his first attack, on Saturday, he had unsuccessfully tried to use several entrances to a cultural centre that was hosting a debate on Islam and free speech attended by controversial Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks.

“The Copenhagen police can now confirm the reports published by the press about the alleged perpetrator’s identity,” it said in a statement.

El-Hussein, a Danish-born man of Palestinian origin, was killed in a shootout with police early Sunday after opening fire at the cultural centre, killing a filmmaker, after which he shot dead a Jewish man outside a synagogue.

Five police were injured in the attacks.

An undated picture released by Copenghagen police in 2013 shows Omar El-Hussein  the man suspected o...

An undated picture released by Copenghagen police in 2013 shows Omar El-Hussein, the man suspected of killing two people in shootings in Copenhagen
, Danish Police/AFP/File

“Questioning and technical investigation shows that the perpetrator upon his arrival at the site first tried to come in through other entrances than the main entrance,” police said of the first attack.

On the street outside the cultural centre where the event was being held he met his first victim, whom he shot with a weapon later found on a football field at Mjoelnerparken, the low-income housing estate where he grew up, it said.

Two weapons were used in the attack outside the synagogue, both of which were found on El-Hussein when he was shot dead.

AFP
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With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

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