The 22-year-old man gunned down by Danish police hours after he opened fire on a free speech event and a Copenhagen synagogue, killing two, had a background in criminal gangs, authorities said Sunday.
The suspect was identified by Danish news media as Omar El-Hussein. He was born in Denmark and had a criminal record including violence and weapons offenses, Copenhagen cops said in a statement.
A photo taken shortly after police killed the hatemonger showed his bloody, lifeless body on a sidewalk outside the entrance to a building.
Police also raided an internet cafe near the site of that final shooting and made several arrests, according to Danish media.
The profile of the suspected Islamic radical who had been on authorities’ radar prior to the attacks emerged as the victims were identified as documentary filmmaker, Finn Noergaard, 55, and Jewish security guard, Dan Uzan, 37.
“Denmark has been hit by terror,” Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said.
“We do not know the motive for the alleged perpetrator’s actions, but we know that there are forces that want to hurt Denmark. They want to rebuke our freedom of speech.”
Five police officers were also wounded in the attacks that echoed the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris that killed 17.
Jens Madsen, head of the Danish intelligence agency PET, said investigators believe the gunman was inspired by Islamic radicalism.
“PET is working on a theory that the perpetrator could have been inspired by the events in Paris. He could also have been inspired by material sent out by (ISIS) and others,” Madsen said.
At a news conference Madsen also said investigators have identified the suspect and that he is someone who had been on the agency’s “radar.” He did not reveal his identity.
Henrik Bo Nielsen, the chief of the Danish Film Institute, identified Noergaard as the gunman’s first victim. He was outraged to learn the filmmaker was killed while attending a discussion on art and free speech.
Noergaard directed and produced Danish television documentaries like the 2004 “Boomerang boy” about an Australian boy’s dreams to become a world boomerang champion and the 2008 “Le Le” about Vietnamese immigrants in Denmark.
Denmark’s Chief Rabbi, Jair Melchior, identified the Jewish victim. He said Uzan has been a longtime security guard for the 7,000-strong community. He was guarding a building behind the synagogue during a bat mitzvah when he was shot in the head.
Two police officers who were there when Uzan was ambushed were slightly wounded.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decried the attack and said his government plans to encourage a “massive immigration” of Jews from Europe.
“Again, Jews were murdered on European soil just because they were Jews,” Netanyahu said at the start of his Cabinet meeting Sunday. “This wave of attacks is expected to continue, as well as murderous anti-Semitic attacks. Jews deserve security in every country, but we say to our Jewish brothers and sisters, Israel is your home.”
Other leaders also condemned the attacks, including British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and EU President Donald Tusk,
“The shootings in Copenhagen are an appalling attack on free speech and religious freedom,” Cameron said. “Two innocent people have been murdered simply for their beliefs and my thoughts are with their loved ones and all those injured at this tragic time.”
The first shooting happened before 4 p.m. Saturday.
The gunman, using an automatic weapon, blasted through the windows of Krudttoenden cultural center during a panel discussion on freedom of expression featuring a Swedish artist who had caricatured the Prophet Muhammad.
The artist, Lars Vilks, was whisked away unharmed by his bodyguards, but Noergaard was killed and three police officers wounded.
The attack at the synagogue occurred hours later, shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday.
About four hours later, the shooter was confronted by police as he returned to an address that they were keeping under surveillance.
Investigators described him as 25 to 30 years old with an athletic build and carrying a black automatic weapon. They released a blurred photograph of the suspect wearing dark clothes and a scarf covering part of his face.
Oliver Larsen, 26, who lives in a building above the street where the suspect was shot dead, said he was awoken at 5 a.m. by the sound of shooting.
“I looked out of the window to see what was going on and I saw a lot of policemen and a guy lying on the street; he was probably dead,” Larsen told the AP.
Vilks, a 68-year-old artist who has faced numerous death threats for depicting Muhammad as a dog in 2007, told The Associated Press he believed he was the intended target of the first shooting, which happened at a panel discussion titled “Art, blasphemy and freedom of expression.”
“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 that had angered Muslims by lampooning Muhammad.
The depiction of the prophet is deemed insulting to many followers of Islam. According to mainstream Islamic tradition, any physical depiction of the Prophet Muhammad — even a respectful one — is considered blasphemous.
While many Muslims have expressed disgust at the deadly assault on the Charlie Hebdo employees, many were also deeply offended by its cartoons lampooning Muhammad.
The attacks took place two days after Denmark and its partners in the European Union agreed to dramatically boost cooperation in the counter-terrorism field as a result of the January attacks in Paris, which claimed the lives of 17 victims.
The EU’s law enforcement agency, Europol, said Sunday it was in contact with Danish authorities and proposing its help to find out as much as possible about the Copenhagen gunman and whether he was acting alone or in concert with others.
“We are offering our expertise and capabilities from our anti-terrorist unit including access to our databases,” said Europol spokesman Soeren Pedersen.
With News Wire Services
