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[h=4]Police kill man believed to be behind Copenhagen shootings[/h]Danish Police said a man they shot and killed Sunday was likely behind shootings at a free speech event and a synagogue in Copenhagen that stirred fears that another spree of terror attacks was underway, a month after 17 people were killed in Paris.
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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
An armed security officer runs down a street near a venue after shots were fired where an event titled "Art, blasphemy and the freedom of expression."(Photo: Kenneth Meyer, AP)
Danish Police said a man they shot and killed Sunday was likely behind shootings at a free speech event and a synagogue in Copenhagen that stirred fears that another spree of terror attacks was underway, a month after 17 people were killed in Paris.
The gunman was killed in a firefight with police in the Noerrebro district of the Danish capital after two people were shot dead and five police officers injured in the attacks over the weekend.
Investigator Joergen Skov says the preliminary investigations said nothing suggested that there were other gunmen involved in the shootings.
Police said in the first attack Saturday the gunman, who fled in a stolen car, killed a 55-year-old man and injured three police officers at the Krudttoenden cafe, which was hosting an "Art, blasphemy and the freedom of expression" event.
Two of the officers belonged to the Danish security service PET, which said the circumstances surrounding the shooting "indicate that we are talking about a terror attack."
The carjacked Volkswagen Polo the gunman fled in was later found a few miles away, police said.
Police said the apparent target of the shooting was Lars Vilks, 68, who has endured several attempted attacks and death threats since he depicted the founder of Islam as a dog in 2007.
Vilks escaped unharmed after a bodyguard shoved him into the cafe kitchen when the gunfire erupted around 4 p.m.
"What other motive could there be? It's possible it was inspired by Charlie Hebdo," he said, referring to the Jan. 7 attack by Islamic extremists on the French newspaper.
Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt called the shooting "a cynical act of violence" and an "act of terrorism."
François Zimeray, the French ambassador to Denmark who was at the event to speak about the Charlie Hebdo attack, tweeted that he was "still alive." Police said he was not wounded.
Police initially said there were two gunmen at the cultural center but later said they believed there was only one shooter.
Copenhagen police released surveillance photos of a man of interest taken near the site where the gunman at a Copenhagen cafe abandoned his stolen car Feb. 14, 2015.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Kobenhvns Politi)
The Danish Security and Intelligence Service described the gunman, who was carrying a black machine gun, as tall, with an athletic build. They released a blurred photograph of the suspect wearing dark clothes and a scarf covering part of his face.
Skov said it was possible the gunman had planned the "same scenario" as in the Charlie Hebdo massacre.
Police reported the second shooting in downtown Copenhagen after midnight Sunday. Police spokesman Allan Wadsworth-Hansen said the gunman opened fire at two police officers outside the synagogue. A Jewish man was killed and the two officers were wounded in the arms and legs but were not in life-threatening condition. The gunman fled on foot.
Dan Rosenberg Asmussen, the head of Denmark's Jewish community, told Danish public broadcaster DR that the victim was guarding the entrance of a building adjacent to the synagogue.
Sebastian Zepeda, a 19-year-old visitor from London, said he didn't want to leave his hotel room after hearing of the first shooting and was text messaging with his mother when the second shooting happened on the street below.
"I was on my bed and I heard gunshots. And my heart raced," Zepeda said. "All of a sudden the road was packed with police."
Witnesses in a bar across the street from the synagogue said they saw special police teams moving in with automatic rifles.
French President Francois Hollande called the Copenhagen shooting "deplorable" and said Thorning-Schmidt would have the "full solidarity of France in this trial." French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve was arriving Sunday in Copenhagen.
The two gunmen who attacked the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris in January, killing 12 people, shouted that their mission was to avenge the newspaper's publication of what they said were denigrating cartoons about Islam. During three days of terror in the French capital, a policewoman was shot dead and a third gunman killed four people at a kosher supermarket, before taking hostages. All three gunmen were killed by police.
Leaders across Europe condemned the violence and expressed support for Denmark, while U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said U.S. officials were ready to help with the investigation and have been in touch with their Danish counterparts.
Vilks has faced several attempted attacks and death threats after he depicted the prophet Mohammed as a dog in 2007. 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.
Vilks said that after the Paris attacks, fewer organizations were inviting him to give lectures due to increased security concerns. Islamic law opposes any depiction of Mohammed.
In 2005, riots broke out around the Muslim world after Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published 12 cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed. They were later reprinted by newspapers around the world. Protesters burned the Danish flag and attacked Danish embassies in countries including Syria, Iran and Lebanon.
Contributing: Associated Press
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