Copenhagen Shooting: 1 Dead, Suspects Flee After Gunfire at Lars Vilks Event

NBC:

Shots rang out Saturday afternoon at a cafe in Copenhagen, killing one person and wounding three others, during a freedom of speech event hosted by controversial Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, police and Danish officials said. The suspects fled after gunfire erupted around 4 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET) at Krudttoenden cafe in the Osterbro district, Copenhagen police said in a statement.

The TV2 channel said there were some 30 bullet holes in the window of the cafe and at least two people were taken away on stretchers, including a uniformed police officer. Police told NBC News that one person was killed but it was unclear whether they died at the scene. Niels Ivar Larsen, one of the speakers at the event, told the TV2 channel that he saw two wounded people as well. Another event organizer, Helle Merete Brix, said that Vilks was present at the event but not injured.

Inna Shevchenko, the leader of Ukrainian feminist group FEMEN, tweeted that she was at the event participating in a panel discussion when the shooting occurred. “I didn’t see anything. I heard about 20 shots while speaking and then people started to run,” she wrote.

Vilks has faced numerous death threats for caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad 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.

The event that the 68-year-old artist was hosting Saturday was called “Arts, Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression,” according to his website. When the artist is in Denmark, he receives police protection.

Police urged anyone who saw the suspects — thought to be driving a dark-colored Volkswagen Polo — to contact police and avoid the vehicle completely.