Denmark in shock as gunman kills three at Copenhagen shopping mall

Three people were killed and several more were wounded in a shooting at a shopping centre in Copenhagen on July 3, Danish police said, adding they had arrested a 22-year-old Danish man and charged him with manslaughter.

The attack rocked Denmark at the end of an otherwise joyful week, just after it hosted the first three stages of the Tour de France cycle race. The event had sent hundreds of thousands of cheering Danes into the streets across the country, Reuters reports.

"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.

Copenhagen police said armed officers were sent to Field's mall in the capital late on Sunday afternoon after reports of a shooting, and had told people inside to stay put and await assistance. Local media footage showed groups of terrified shoppers running from the mall.

The suspect was apprehended at 5:48 p.m. local time (1548 GMT), carrying a rifle and ammunition. Police launched a massive search operation throughout the local Zealand region early Sunday evening in search of any accomplices.

The multi-storey shopping mall is located around 5 kilometres (3 miles) south of downtown Copenhagen.

The attack follows a deadly shooting in neighbouring Norway last week, in which two people were killed by a lone shooter in the capital Oslo. read more

The terrorist threat against Denmark is currently assessed to be "serious", with the biggest threat coming from "militant Islamism", according to the latest report from the Danish Security and Intelligence Service.

The threat to Denmark from right-wing extremists is considered at a "general" level, which means there is a capability and/or intent and possibly planning.

Denmark last saw a militant attack in 2015, when two people were killed and six police officers wounded when a lone gunman shot and killed a man outside a culture centre hosting a debate on freedom of speech, and later killed a person outside a Jewish synagogue in central Copenhagen.