Three people were killed and several more wounded in a shooting at a packed shopping centre in the Danish capital of Copenhagen yesterday, according to police. 

A 22-year-old Danish man was arrested in connection with the shooting by armed officers near Field’s shopping centre, said police inspector Soren Thomassen, head of the Copenhagen police operations unit.

Chilling images show the moment the gunman strolled through the shopping mall with the rifle slung over his shoulder before he unloaded on innocent bystanders. 

‘We know that there are several dead’ and ‘several injured,’ Thomassen told a news conference, adding that terror can’t be ruled out and that the suspect was a white, ethnic Danish male. 

‘We do not have information that others are involved.This is what we know now,’ he said, refusing to say exactly how many were believed to be dead or hurt.

‘We investigate it as an act, where we can’t exclude, that it’s terror.’

Police have refused to comment on the gunman’s identity beyond confirming his nationality, ethnicity and age in accordance with Danish privacy laws, but there are suspicions the perpetrator is Noah Esbensen, who recently posted multiple videos on YouTube entitled ‘I don’t care’ in which he held firearms to his head.

Images which emerged from the scene showed the suspect being led away in cuffs in a white hooded top – though another picture posted on social media revealed a man matching Esbensen’s description sat in the grass, minded by armed police. 

Meanwhile, mobile phone footage from inside the shopping complex seemingly showed the suspect clasping a Scandinavian Target Rifle, a weapon of choice for Nordic sport shooters which also appeared in Esbensen’s YouTube videos. 

‘Denmark was hit by a cruel attack on Sunday night.Several were killed. Even more wounded. Innocent families shopping or eating out. Children, adolescents and adults,’ Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement late on Sunday.

‘Our beautiful and usually so safe capital was changed in a split second,’ she said.’I want to encourage the Danes to stand together and support each other in this difficult time.’

The shooter had killed a man in his forties and two ‘young people’, a man and a woman, Thomassen said. Several more were wounded, and among those were three in critical condition. 

British singer Harry Styles was due to perform at 8pm local team (6pm BST) at the Royal Arena, a concert venue just 500 yards away from the scene of the shooting. 

The popstar and former One Direction bandmember posted on social media: ‘My team and I pray for everyone involved in the Copenhagen shopping mall shooting.I am shocked. Love H.’ 

Shortly after the shooting the organiser announced the concert would ‘proceed as planned,’ but later declared its cancellation, following criticism. 

Local media published images showing heavily armed police officers at the scene, as well as people running out of the shopping centre.

Meanwhile, shocking mobile phone footage posted on social media appeared to show the moment shots rang out, sending people sprinting for the exits as screams were heard. 

Danish broadcaster TV2 published images of a man being loaded onto a stretcher by emergency services outside the shopping centre, while eyewitnesses said people were crying in shock.

Other civilians said shoppers attempted to hide in shops to avoid being caught in the gunfire. 

One shopper told Danish broadcaster DR that he was in a clothing store with his family when he heard ‘three to four bangs. Really loud bangs. It sounded like the shots were being fired just next to the store’.

A huge police presence was on hand, with several fire department vehicles and ambulances parked outside the shopping centre along with police vans. 

Police reinforcements were deployed around the perimeter of the retail complex, advising people inside the mall to stay put and await police assistance in the aftermath of the shooting. 

Police also asked witnesses to get in touch with them and called on those who had been visiting the shopping mall to contact loved ones to reassure them.

The capital’s main hospital, Rigshospitalet, had received a ‘small group of patients’ for treatment, a spokesperson said, and had called in extra doctors and nurses.

Danish tabloid BT published unverified video footage it said was shot by a witness to the attack, Mahdi Al-wazni, showing a man with a large rifle walking through the mall and swinging it around his shoulders.

‘He seemed very aggressive and shouted different things,’ Al-wazni told BT. 

A bystander named Isabella told public broadcaster DR: ‘All of a sudden we heard gunshots, I heard 10 shots, and we ran as far as we could to take refuge in the toilet.’ 

She said she had hidden in the mall for two hours.

Other witnesses described the gunman as a man around 1.8 metres tall carrying a hunting rifle.

At around 7:30pm (5:30pm BST), roads around the mall were blocked, the subway was stopped and a helicopter was flying above, said an AFP correspondent at the scene.

Heavily armed police officer kept onlookers back prevented locals from returning to their homes.

Copenhagen police earlier wrote on : ‘We’re on the scene, shots were fired and several people have been hit.’ 

Copenhagen Mayor Sophie H Andersen tweeted: ‘Terrible reports of shooting in Fields.We do not yet know for sure how many were injured or dead, but it is very serious.’ 

Fans preparing to visit the nearby Royal Arena for Styles’ concert also told of their disbelief and horror at the attack.

Hans Christian Stoltz, 53, who was taking his daughters to the concert said: ‘My oldest daughter who is 18, she is barely holding it together. 

‘My other daughter, she got in the stampede that started when the perpetrator fired shots everywhere.Apparently, she got cut in several places as well from the people and falling over chairs. Awful.’

Stoltz’ daughter Cassandra, 18, said: ‘We didn’t know what to do, so we ran. People were guiding us towards the exit sign and we ran up to the roof and we were stuck there for a while and people were panicking all over the place and people were crying.’

The shopping centre is on the outskirts of Copenhagen just across from a subway line that connects the city centre with the international airport. 

A major highway also runs adjacent to Field’s, which opened in 2004. 

Shortly after the shooting, the royal palace said a reception with Crown Prince Frederik connected to the Tour de France cycling race had been canceled. 

The first three stages of the race were held in Denmark this year, the palace said in a statement. 

A reception was due to be held on the royal yacht that is moored in Soenderborg, the town where the third stage ended. 

The attack occurred two days after this year’s Tour de France took off from Copenhagen, and the Tour organisers released a statement expressing their sympathy.

‘The entire caravan of the Tour de France sends its sincerest condolences to the victims and their families,’ it said.

Today’s shooting comes just one week after a suspected terrorist opened fire at a gay bar in Denmark’s Nordic neighbour, Norway.

The man, whom authorities described as a 42-year-old Norwegian citizen originally from Iran, was arrested shortly after the shooting in Oslo’s nightlife district last weekend. 

He is being held on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and terrorism.

Two people were killed and more than 20 were injured in what the Norwegian security service called an ‘Islamist terror act’.

Oslo police said they tried to question the suspect on Saturday and slot online again on Sunday without success.Norwegian media identified him as Zaniar Matapour.

Matapour was born in Iranian Kurdistan before coming to Bergen as a 12-year-old.

His first mental health diagnosis was made in the 1990s, with his listed conditions including paranoid schizophrenia, PTSD and ‘delusions’.

His defence lawyer, John Christian Elden, said his client refused to have his statement recorded and videotaped unless police released the entire recording to the public ‘with no time delay so it won’t be censored or manipulated’.

Mr Elden said previously said his client did not deny being the gunman but had not divulged any motive.