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[h=4]1 dead in Denmark in attack on artist who drew Mohammed[/h]One person was killed Saturday when at least two gunmen opened fire at a Copenhagen cafe in an apparent assassination attempt on a Swedish artist who had received death threats for publishing cartoons of the prophet Mohammed.
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At least one person is dead and others wounded following a shooting at a freedom of speech meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark. According to reports, police on the scene regard this attack as an assassination attempt on artist Lars Vilks. VPC
Policemen secure the area around a building in Copenhagen, Denmark, where shots were fired on February 14 outside the venue of a debate held on art, blasphemy and free speech.(Photo: MATHIAS OEGENDAL, AFP/Getty Images)
One person was killed Saturday when at least two gunmen opened fire on a Copenhagen blasphemy seminar in an apparent assassination attempt on a Swedish artist who had received death threats for publishing cartoons of the prophet Mohammed.
Lars Vilks, 68, was hustled into the kitchen of the Krudttoenden cafe by bodyguards and was unharmed. Three police officers were wounded, Danish TV2 reported. Police said the dead victim was a 40-year-old man.
Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt called the shooting "a cynical act of violence." She said it had all the signs of a political assassination attempt and "act of terrorism."
Copenhagen police said in a statement that the assailants -- who fired through a window -- fled in a dark-colored Volkswagen Polo. Officers at the scene regarded the attack as an assassination attempt on Vilks, Copenhagen Police Incident Commander Jørgen Petersen told the Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet.
"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.
Swedish artist Lars Vilks meets the press after appearing on a morning news show in Stockholm on March 10, 2010.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: File photo by Bertil Ericson, AP)
The Swedish artist had faced several attempted attacks and death threats since he depicted the founder of Islam as a dog in 2007.
The Krudttoenden cafe in northern Copenhagen, known for its jazz concerts, was hosting an event titled "Art, blasphemy and the freedom of expression" when the shots were fired.
TV2 reported that about 30 bullet holes hit the window of the cafe and that at least two people were taken away on stretchers, including a uniformed police officer.
Police secure the area around a building in Copenhagen, where shots were fired on Feb. 14, 2015, outside the venue of a debate held on art, blasphemy and free speech.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
The Danish newspaper Berlinske reported the attack was carried out by two men with automatic weapons. It said the men were dressed in dark clothes and spoke Danish. However, TV2 quoted Frimand Jesper Christensen, a bartender at the cafe, as saying the men spoke a language he did not understand.
Helle Merete Brix, one of the organizers of the event, told TV2 that Vilks ran to the nearby kitchen when the shots rang out.
"He was very cool," she said. "We stood and told each other bad jokes. His bodyguards did a tremendous job."
She told the TV station the attack was a "clear assassination attempt" of Vilks, who receives police protection when he is in Denmark.
Francois Zimeray, the French ambassador to Denmark, said on Twitter that he was at the cafe during the attack but was not hurt. "Still alive in the room," he tweeted.
Frank Jensen, Lord Mayor of Copenhagen, said he was "deeply horrified" by the shootings which appeared to be a "violent crackdown on freedom of expression."
"Unfortunately, there are people who react with violence when their entrenched mindset meets with the free debate and freedom of speech," Jensen wrote on his Facebook page. "We must stand firm on the values our society is built on, and never give in to fear."
Still alive in the room
— Frankrigs ambassadør (@francedk) February 14, 2015
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.
After Islamist militants attacked the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris last month, killing 12 people, Vilks told the AP that even fewer organizations were inviting him to give lectures over increased security concerns.
Vilks said he thought Sweden's SAPO security service, which deploys bodyguards to protect him, would step up the security around him.
"This will create fear among people on a whole different level than we're used to," he said. "Charlie Hebdo was a small oasis. Not many dared do what they did."
Contributing: The Associated Press
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One civilian is dead, three policemen injured, after shots are fired inside a Copenhagen cafe where a controversial Swedish artist attended a debate on art and blasphemy. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).Video provided by Reuters Newslook
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