Two ‘accomplices’ charged over Copenhagen shootings

Two men were charged on Monday as accomplices of the suspected Islamist terrorist who shot dead two people in a double attack in Copenhagen at the weekend. The men, described as “young”, appeared in court in a closed hearing and have not been named.

They denied helping the 22-year-old suspect, Omar el-Hussein, obtain guns and hiding him for several hours after the first attack on a free speech debate at a cafe, where he killed a filmmaker. 

Police believe El-Hussein was radicalised in prison. He was released about two weeks ago after serving a two-year sentence for aggravated assault. He was convicted of stabbing a man at a railway station in 2013, injuring him in the leg and buttock. El-Hussein, who had a criminal record going back to his teens for gang-related offences including possession of firearms, was “on the intelligence radar” as a potential threat, Denmark’s spy chief Jens Madsen said. Mr Madsen said he had not been placed under round-the-clock surveillance because there had been no indication that he had travelled to Iraq or Syria to fight or train with jihadist groups. 

Police are investigating whether a jihadist network helped el-Hussein plan the attacks. It was unclear how he knew about the free speech debate at the cafe, where one of the participants was a Swedish cartoonist who had caricatured the Prophet Muhammad, as the event had not been widely publicised. The French ambassador was also attending.

There are also questions about how he became aware of the bat mitzvah party at the synagogue, where he arrived at one o’clock in the morning.

Danish media reported that el-Hussein had been linked with a mainly Muslim youth gang known as “The Brothas”, but a spokesman for the group said he had never been a member. ”We know who he is,” the spokesman said. “But he is not one of ours. He was a lone wolf who kept to himself. We didn’t know that he was in such trouble. We condemn what happened.”

As the investigation continued, police raided several homes on the mainly immigrant Molnerparken estate where el-Hussein lived. Four men were arrested during another raid by armed police at an internet cafe, where equipment was confiscated. According to the cafe owner, the four were arrested for disobeying police orders to lie on the floor. It is unclear if the two men charged on Monday were among them.