Copenhagen Police arrested four men at the Islamic Society in Denmark (Det Islamiske Trossamfund) in the city's Nordvest district on Wednesday following a clash in which officers fired warning shots at a group of rock-throwing youths.
A police spokesperson told Ritzau that police fired the warning after being confronted by “30-40 very violent people”.
“There was a patrol that had to fire warning shots because they felt that their lives were threatened. It was related to an attempt to approach some people in a car. Suddenly, a group of 30-40 very violent people came and threw rocks at the patrol,” Henrik Vedel from the Copenhagen Police said.
Inspector Rasmus Skovsgaard told Berlingske that the group was “25-30 men”.
According to Skovsgaard, police attempted to stop the vehicle after seeing one of the five men inside throw an unknown object out of the window. When the car did not immediately stop, police gave chase. After the car then stopped, a large group of men approached the officers while they were speaking with the driver.
Skovsgaard said that an officer first pulled out pepper spray in response to the aggressive behaviour and when that did not get the men to back off he then fired one warning shot into the air.
The men then ran toward the Islamic Society in Denmark's mosque, which the police searched “in good dialogue” with mosque leaders.
“The mosque [leaders] informed us that they did know the people,” Skovsgaard said.
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