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A gunman has opened fire inside a busy shopping mall in the Danish capital, killing three people and critically wounding three others,.

A 22-year-old Danish man was arrested after the shooting, Copenhagen police inspector Soren Thomassen told reporters on Sunday, adding there was no indication anyone else was involved in the attack, though police were still investigating.

Gun violence is relatively rare in Denmark.

Thomassen said it was too early to speculate on the motive for the shooting, which happened in the late afternoon at Field's, one of the biggest shopping malls in Scandinavia and located on the outskirts of the Danish capital.

When the shots rang out, some people hid in shops while others fled in a panicked stampede, according to witnesses.

"It is pure terror. This is awful," said Hans Christian Stoltz, a 53-year-old IT consultant, who was bringing his daughters to see Harry Styles perform at concert scheduled for Sunday night near the mall.

"You might wonder how a person can do this to another human being, but it's beyond ... beyond anything that's possible."

Thomassen said the victims included a man in his 40s and two "young people", without giving details. Several others were injured, three of them critically, he said.

He said police received the first reports of a shooting at 5.37pm, and arrested the suspect 11 minutes later. Thomassen described the suspect as an "ethnic Dane", a phrase typically used to mean someone is white.

Danish broadcaster TV2 published a grainy photo of the alleged gunman, a man wearing knee-length shorts, a vest or sleeveless shirt, and holding what appeared to be a rifle in his right hand.

"He seemed very violent and angry," eyewitness Mahdi Al-Wazni told TV2. "He spoke to me and said it (the rifle) isn't real as I was filming him. He seemed very proud of what he was doing."

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the Scandinavian country had been hit by a "cruel attack."

"It is incomprehensible. Heartbreaking. Pointless," she said. "Our beautiful and usually so safe capital was changed in a split second."

Images from the scene showed people running out of the mall, and TV2 posted a photo of a man being put on a stretcher.

The shopping centre is on the outskirts of Copenhagen just across from a subway station for a line that connects the city centre with the international airport. A major highway also runs adjacent to the mall.

Organisers called off the Harry Styles concert, which had been scheduled at the nearby Royal Arena, by order of police.

On Snapchat, Styles wrote: "My team and I pray for everyone involved in the Copenhagen shopping mall shooting. I am shocked. Love H."

The royal palace said a reception with Crown Prince Frederik connected to the Tour de France cycling race had been cancelled.

The first three stages of the race were held in Denmark this year. The reception was due to be held on the royal yacht that is moored in Soenderborg, the town where the third stage ended.

In a joint statement, Queen Margrethe, her son Crown Prince Frederik and his wife, Crown Princess Mary, said: "We do not yet know the full extent of the tragedy, but it is already clear that more people have lost their lives and that even more have been injured."

"The situation calls for unity and care," they said in a statement.

The shooting came a week after a mass shooting in neighbouring Norway, where police said a Norwegian man of Iranian origin opened fire during a LGBTQ festival, killing two and wounding more than 20.

It was the worst gun attack in Denmark since February 2015, when a 22-year-old man was killed in a shootout with police after going on a shooting spree in the capital that left two people dead and five police officers wounded.

© AP 2022

Harry Styles has reportedly cancelled a concert in Copenhagen following a fatal shooting at a nearby shopping centre.

The former One Direction star, 28, was due to take to the stage at the Royal Arena venue on Sunday night as part of his highly anticipated Love On Tour shows.

On Sunday afternoon, Danish police responded to a shooting at the Field's shopping centre near the arena, which is situated on the southern outskirts of the city.

Police confirmed several people were killed with others injured, while a 22-year-old Danish man has been arrested after being detained near the site.

The concert was due to begin at 8pm local time and large crowds had already gathered inside the arena when the show's cancellation was announced and they were asked to leave.

Acts such as Pearl Jam and Queen + Adam Lambert are also due to perform at the venue in the coming weeks.

Following the shooting, the Danish royal palace announced it had cancelled a reception with Crown Prince Frederik connected to the Tour de France.

The reception was due to be held on the royal yacht that is moored in Sonderborg, the town where the third stage of the race ended this year.

Styles was due to take his Love On Tour show around the world in 2020 before the pandemic brought the live music industry to a standstill.

The rescheduled tour began in September 2021 in Las Vegas before heading across the US, with the European tour leg kicking off in Glasgow last month.

Styles' most recent album, Harry's House, was warmly received by critics and lead single As It Was recently claimed its 10th week at number one in the UK.

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A gunman has opened fire in a Copenhagen shopping mall, one of the largest of its kind in Scandinavia, killing several people and wounding several others, police said.

The suspected gunman, who is in custody, is a 22-year-old Danish man who was detained near the Fields shopping mall on the southern outskirts of the capital, said police inspector Soren Thomassen, head of the Copenhagen police operations unit.

"We know that there are several dead" and "several injured," Thomassen told a news conference, adding that terror can't be ruled out. "We do not have information that others are involved. This is what we know now."

He didn't provide any further details on the victims. The shopping centre is on the outskirts of Copenhagen just across from a subway line that connects the city centre with the international airport. A major highway also runs adjacent to Fields, which opened in 2004.

Images from the scene showed people running out of the mall, and Denmark's TV2 broadcaster posted a photo of a man being put on a stretcher. Witnesses said people were crying and hid in shops.

Laurits Hermansen told Danish broadcaster DR that he was in a clothing store at the shopping centre with his family when he heard "three-four bangs. Really loud bangs. It sounded like the shots were being fired just next to the store."

Copenhagen Mayor Sophie H Andersen tweeted: "Terrible reports of shooting in Fields. We do not yet know for sure how many were injured or dead, but it is very serious."

Police said they were first alerted to the shooting at 5.36pm local time. A huge presence of heavily-armed police officers was on hand, with several fire department vehicles also parked outside the mall.

"One person has been arrested in connection with the shooting at Fields. We currently are not able to say more about the person concerned," Copenhagen police tweeted. "We have a massive presence at Fields and are working on getting an overview."

A concert by former One Direction band member Harry Styles was expected to go ahead at the nearby Royal Arena on Sunday evening.

On Snapchat, Styles wrote "My team and I pray for everyone involved in the Copenhagen shopping mall shooting. I am shocked. Love H."

Shortly after the shooting, the royal palace said a reception with Crown Prince Frederik connected to the Tour de France cycling race had been canceled.

The first three stages of the race were held in Denmark this year, the palace said in a statement. The reception was due to be held on the royal yacht that is moored in Soenderborg, the town where the third stage ended.

© AP 2022