The BBC's Malcolm Brabant says police tracked the gunman down using CCTV
Police
in Copenhagen say they have shot dead a man they believe was behind two
deadly attacks in the Danish capital hours earlier.
Police say they killed the man in the Norrebro district after he opened fire on them.
It came after one person was killed and three police officers injured at a free speech debate in a cafe on Saturday.
In the second attack, a Jewish man was killed and two police officers wounded near the city's main synagogue.
Police say video surveillance suggested the same man carried
out both attacks. They do not believe any other people were involved.
"We assume that it's the same culprit behind both incidents,
and we also assume that the culprit that was shot by the police task
force... is the person behind both of these assassinations," Chief
Police Inspector Torben Molgaard Jensen told a news conference.
He said police would maintain a high presence in the city.
Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt: "The Jewish community belong in Denmark"
Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said it was "a very sad
morning" and described the shootings as "a cynical act of terror against
Denmark".
"I am happy and relieved that police have disarmed the
alleged perpetrator behind the two shootings," she said in a statement.
"I will continue to encourage everyone to follow police instructions and
be vigilant."
She later visited the synagogue and said Denmark would do everything to protect its Jewish community.
Police quickly sealed off the scene where the suspected gunman was shot in Norrebro
Flowers were left outside the synagogue in Copenhagen on Sunday
Early on Sunday, police said they had been keeping an address
under observation in the district of Norrebro, waiting for the occupant
to return.
The address, near Norrebro train station, had been identified
using information from a taxi driver who dropped the suspect there
following the first attack on Saturday.
When the man appeared, he saw the officers, pulled out a gun and opened fire, police said. They returned fire and shot him dead.
A massive manhunt had been launched after the first shooting,
which took place during a free speech debate at the Krudttonden
cultural centre hosted by controversial Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks.
A man attending the event, named by Danish broadcaster DR as
film director Finn Norgaard, 55, was killed and three police officers
wounded.
Officials said the gunman fled by car, and a black Volkswagen
Polo was later found abandoned a short distance from the scene. Police
said the gunman then called a taxi to take him home.
At the scene: Malcolm Brabant, BBC News, Copenhagen
It was always a case of not if but when. What's surprising is
that it has taken this long for Denmark to be scarred by a fatal terror
attack.
In September it will be 10 years since the Jyllands Posten
newspaper inflamed the Muslim world with the publication of 12 cartoons
of the Prophet Muhammad, including one of him with a bomb in his turban.
The country has been perpetually vigilant since 2005, after
its embassies in the Middle East were burned and Danish exports
threatened.
Kurt Westergaard, the 79-year-old cartoonist who drew the
seminal turban caricature, has spent the past decade living under a
death fatwa (religious ruling). He narrowly escaped an attempt to kill
him at home, and had to lock himself into a panic room when a Somali
militant broke into his home in the city of Aarhus.
He continues to live under police protection.
Why Denmark was steeled for attack
Police released photographs showing the alleged attacker wearing a purple balaclava and thick puffer jacket.
Hours later, a gunman opened fire outside a synagogue in
Krystalgade street, about 5km from the scene of the first attack,
killing a Jewish man and wounding two police officers.
Denmark's Chief Rabbi Jair Melchior named the victim as Dan
Uzan, 37. He had been on security duty while a Bar Mitzvah ceremony was
taking place inside the synagogue.
French President Francois Hollande said Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve would visit the Danish capital on Sunday.
US National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan
said they had been in touch with their Danish counterparts and were
ready to help with the investigation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Jewish
people in Europe to migrate to Israel following what he described as a
"wave of attacks" on Jews in recent weeks.
"This wave of attacks will continue. I say to the Jews of Europe - Israel is your home," he told a cabinet meeting.
Police warned the public to avoid central Copenhagen as they investigated the shootings
Copenhagen was on high alert as the manhunt continued
Police released this picture of the alleged gunman in the first shooting
Cartoonist Lars Vilks, who has faced death threats over his
caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, said he believed he was the
intended target of the first attack. He was unhurt.
The French ambassador, Francois Zimeray, was also present during the attack.
A description of the debate at the cafe asked whether artists
could "dare" to be blasphemous in the wake of attacks by Islamist
gunmen in Paris last month against satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
In the French attacks, two gunmen opened fire at Charlie
Hebdo's office, shooting dead 12 people. The next day a suspected
accomplice of the militants shot dead a policewoman and later took
hostages at a Jewish shop, killing four of them.
All three attackers were eventually shot dead by police and security services.
