A gunman opened fire Saturday on a Copenhagen cultural center, killing one man in what authorities called a terror attack against a free speech event featuring an artist who had caricatured the Prophet Muhammad.
The shooting, which also wounded three police officers, came a month after extremists killed 12 people at a satirical newspaper in Paris that had sparked Muslim outrage with its depictions of Muhammad.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the shooting. Danish police said the gunman used an automatic weapon to fire through the windows of the Krudttoenden cultural center, which TV footage showed were riddled with bullet holes. The gunman then fled in a hijacked Volkswagen Polo, said police, who found the car a few miles away.
They said the victim was a man of about 40 who had not yet been identified. Two of the wounded officers belonged to the Danish security service PET, which said the circumstances surrounding the shooting “indicate that we are talking about a terror attack.”
Lars Vilks, a Swedish artist who has faced numerous death threats for caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad, was one of the main speakers at Saturday’s panel discussion, titled “Art, blasphemy and freedom of expression.” He was whisked away by his bodyguards as the shooting began.
Vilks, 68, later said he believed he was the intended target of the shooting.
“What other motive could there be? It’s possible it was inspired by Charlie Hebdo,” he said from an undisclosed location, referring to the Jan. 7 attack by Islamic extremists on the newspaper in Paris.
Police initially said there were two gunmen but later said they believed there was only one shooter. They described him as 25-30 years old with an athletic build and carrying a black automatic weapon. They released a blurred photograph of a man wearing dark clothes, with a scarf covering part of his face.
“I saw a masked man running past,” said Helle Merete Brix, one of the event’s organizers. “I clearly consider this as an attack on Lars Vilks.”
Niels Ivar Larsen, one of the speakers at the event, told the TV2 channel that as the attack began, he heard someone shouting and automatic weapons fire.
“Police returned the fire and I hid behind the bar,” he said “I felt surreal, like in a movie.”
Visiting the scene of the shooting, Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said “all indications are that the shooting … was a political attack and therefore an act of terror.”
The cultural center had a lecture hall as well as a cafe.
“We were well isolated in there. It would have been much worse if this happened during the break, when people walk out,” Vilks said.
He said he deplored the death and the injuries but was unfazed by the attack.
“I’m not shaken at all by this incident. Not the least,” he said.
Police spokesman Joergen Skov said it was possible the gunman had planned the “same scenario” as in the Charlie Hebdo massacre.
François Zimeray, the French ambassador to Denmark, was at the event to speak about the Charlie Hebdo attack. He tweeted that he was “still alive.” Police said he was not wounded.
French President Francois Hollande called the Copenhagen shooting “deplorable” and said Thorning-Schmidt would have the “full solidarity of France in this trial.” French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve is set to arrive today in Copenhagen.
Sweden’s security service said it was sharing information about the case with its Danish counterparts.
Vilks has faced several attempted attacks and death threats after he depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a dog in 2007. A Pennsylvania woman last year received 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.
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