By Johannes Birkebaek
COPENHAGEN, March 29 (Reuters) – A 23-year-old Danish man arrested over the shooting deaths of three people in a Copenhagen shopping mall last year has been charged with homicide and intent to kill and will stand trial in June, police said.
The killings – a rare instance of gun crime in the normally peaceful Nordic country, occurred on July 3 when the man opened fire at the Field’s mall on the capital’s southern outskirts.
The shooter killed two 17-yearolds – one boy and one girl – and a 46-year-old man, and seven other people were wounded, four of them seriously. Twenty people were lightly injured while fleeing the scene.
The suspect was in possession of a rifle, ammunition and a knife when he was arrested outside the mall. Police said the attack had no relation to terrorism.
His trial will start in Copenhagen City Court on June 12 with a verdict expected on July 5.
The suspect’s lawyer was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters.
The incident shocked Denmark, which has one of the lowest rates of gun violence in the world.
(Reporting by Johannes Birkebaek Editing by Mark Heinrich)
((Johannes.Birkebaek@thomsonreuters.com;))
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