1 dead after shots fired at Copenhagen cafe where freedom of speech meeting being held
1 dead after shots fired at Copenhagen cafe where freedom of speech meeting being held, Dozens of shots were fired Saturday during a free speech event at a cafe in Copenhagen hosted by a controversial Swedish artist who has faced threats for his caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. Danish police said one man was killed.
In a brazen attack, gunman sprayed the Krudttoenden cafe with some 30 bullets. The victim was a 40-year-old man. The shooting also slightly injured three police officers. The artist, Lars Vilks was not hurt, the Danish news network, thelocal.dk, said, citing media reports.
Danish police said they were looking for the perpetrators who drove away in a dark Volkswagen Polo after the shooting. The gunfire erupted shortly before 4 p.m.
"I heard someone firing with an automatic weapons and someone shouting. Police returned the fire and I hid behind the bar. I felt surreal, like in a movie," Niels Ivar Larsen, one of the speakers at the event, told the TV2 channel.
Helle Merete Brix, one of the event's organizers, told The Associated Press she saw a masked man running past and that two police officers were injured.
"I clearly consider this as an attack on Lars Vilks," she added, saying she was ushered away with Vilks by one of the Danish police guards that he gets whenever he is in Denmark.
The cafe in northern Copenhagen is known for its jazz concerts. It was hosting an event titled "Art, blasphemy and the freedom of expression" when shots were fired.
The Berlingske newspaper initially reported that one spectator was seriously wounded and three police officers injured.
Francois Zimeray, the French ambassador to Denmark who was at the conference, tweeted that he was "still alive."
Vilks, 68, has faced several attempted attacks and death threats after he depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a dog in 2007.
A Pennsylvania woman last year got a 10-year prison term for a plot to kill Vilks. In 2010, two brothers tried to burn down his house in southern Sweden and were imprisoned for attempted arson.
After Islamic militants attacked the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris last month, killing 12 people, Vilks told the AP that even fewer organizations were inviting him to give lectures over increased security concerns.
Vilks also said he thought Sweden's SAPO security service, which deploys bodyguards to protect him, would step up the security around him.
"This will create fear among people on a whole different level than we're used to," he said. "Charlie Hebdo was a small oasis. Not many dared do what they did."
In a brazen attack, gunman sprayed the Krudttoenden cafe with some 30 bullets. The victim was a 40-year-old man. The shooting also slightly injured three police officers. The artist, Lars Vilks was not hurt, the Danish news network, thelocal.dk, said, citing media reports.
Danish police said they were looking for the perpetrators who drove away in a dark Volkswagen Polo after the shooting. The gunfire erupted shortly before 4 p.m.
"I heard someone firing with an automatic weapons and someone shouting. Police returned the fire and I hid behind the bar. I felt surreal, like in a movie," Niels Ivar Larsen, one of the speakers at the event, told the TV2 channel.
Helle Merete Brix, one of the event's organizers, told The Associated Press she saw a masked man running past and that two police officers were injured.
"I clearly consider this as an attack on Lars Vilks," she added, saying she was ushered away with Vilks by one of the Danish police guards that he gets whenever he is in Denmark.
The cafe in northern Copenhagen is known for its jazz concerts. It was hosting an event titled "Art, blasphemy and the freedom of expression" when shots were fired.
The Berlingske newspaper initially reported that one spectator was seriously wounded and three police officers injured.
Francois Zimeray, the French ambassador to Denmark who was at the conference, tweeted that he was "still alive."
Vilks, 68, has faced several attempted attacks and death threats after he depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a dog in 2007.
A Pennsylvania woman last year got a 10-year prison term for a plot to kill Vilks. In 2010, two brothers tried to burn down his house in southern Sweden and were imprisoned for attempted arson.
After Islamic militants attacked the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris last month, killing 12 people, Vilks told the AP that even fewer organizations were inviting him to give lectures over increased security concerns.
Vilks also said he thought Sweden's SAPO security service, which deploys bodyguards to protect him, would step up the security around him.
"This will create fear among people on a whole different level than we're used to," he said. "Charlie Hebdo was a small oasis. Not many dared do what they did."
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