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Copenhagen mall Field’s asks for donations instead of flowers on anniversary of shooting

A minute’s silence was held at the Field’s shopping mall in Copenhagen on Monday, a year after a fatal shooting attack that cost three people their lives.

Published: 3 July 2023 13:34 CEST

Copenhagen mall Field's asks for donations instead of flowers on anniversary of shooting

Copenhagen Mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen stands with survivors, shoppers and staff at Field's shopping mall in Copenhagen on July 3rd 2023, a year after a shooting attack that cost three people their lives. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

A 17-year-old boy, a 17-year-old girl and a 46-year-old man lost their lives in the shooting on July 3rd last year. Several others were injured, some seriously after being hit by shots.

The gunman, a 23-year-old man, is currently on trial for the shooting, with the court proceedings scheduled to conclude this week.

Field’s management on Monday encouraged the public to make donations to the charity Headspace, in preference to placing flowers at the shopping centre, which is located in the Ørestad area south of central Copenhagen.

“Headspace works actively to help psychiatrically vulnerable children and young people all over the country. We think that’s a good cause to support,” the centre said in a statement.

The 23-year-old who has been charged with the shooting was in contact with mental health services in Copenhagen prior to committing the lethal attack.

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Danish police charge man for entering supermarket with loaded shotgun

The incident took place in a Rema 1000 supermarket in the town of Hareskovby in northern Zealand in August last year and has been kept secret from the public until now, with court proceedings taking place behind closed doors.

In addition to the firearm, the 19-year-old man was also carrying an axe, five knives and a baseball bat.

The prosecution is charging the man for breaking laws related to firearms possession under aggravated circumstances. It is unclear how the 19-year-old will plead.

Newspaper BT reported last autumn that police suspected the man of intending to commit a mass shooting, but this has never been confirmed.

The supermarket is located close to a former residence of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who lived there at the time of the incident and used the supermarket on a number of occasions. Police previously told BT they do not believe Frederiksen was a target.

According to the charge sheet presented on Tuesday, the man is currently admitted to a psychiatric ward. The prosecution is not seeking a prison sentence in the case but is demanding he be brought to a secure psychiatric facility for up to five years.

Danish law does not permit custodial sentences to be given to persons who are deemed “unaccountable due to a mental illness” (Danish: utilregnelig på grund af singssygdom) at the time the offence was committed.

The incident in the Rema 1000 store took place less than two months after a mass shooting in the Field’s shopping mall in Copenhagen which resulted in three deaths. The Field’s shooter was recently sentenced to indefinite detention, with his mental state both during and after the event a factor in the sentence.

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