Copenhagen attacks: 'the whole bar was showered with bullets'

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/15/copenhagen-shooting-bar-showered-bullets-witnesses

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In north-west Copenhagen, among the quiet, graffiti-tagged streets of red-brick blocks and low-rise social housing bordering the multi-ethnic Nørrebro district, police continued to cordon off roads and search a flat near the spot where officers killed a man believed to be behind Denmark’s bloodiest attacks in over a decade.

Two people were killed and several injured at a cultural centre and synagogue in an outrage that has left the country in mourning.

Armed police stood guard on Svanevej Street, where the suspect had been shot just before dawn outside apartment buildings. The man, described as 25–30 years old with an athletic build and carrying an automatic weapon, was confronted by police as he returned to an address they had under surveillance.

“I heard yelling and gunshots at around 5am. I put my head out of the window and saw police swarming, running around. I didn’t want to see anyone get killed so I turned away,” said Christoffer Rosenberg, 25, a trainee teacher who lives opposite the scene.

“These attacks have been a complete bombshell for the Danish population,” he added, saying an attack had been “inevitable at some point” after 10 years of extra protection, warnings and foiled attacks since the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten first published cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad in 2005. “The idea of freedom of speech is strongly embedded in Danish identity. But at what price? It’s a very difficult question to answer.”

Hours earlier, in Østerbro, Inna Shevchenko, the leader of the Ukrainian protest group Femen, had just started her seminar presentation and was talking about the danger of letting gunmen suppress free speech when the bullets started flying in the foyer outside.

The previously “cheerful and relaxed” atmosphere at the free speech debate at the Krudttønden cafe turned into panic as a partially masked gunman riddled the cafe windows with what witnesses have told the Guardian were 50 to 60 rounds of ammunition.

At first the shots sounded like firecrackers, said Agnieszka Kolek, curator of the Passion for Freedom arts festival in London, who was appearing on the panel with Shevchenko. It could have been children messing about. But then the firing intensified.

“Among the shooting I could hear Arabic: ‘Allahu Akbar’,” said Kolek. “It was throaty and really rough.”

A door and a curtain separated the gunman from the 30 or so people who had crowded into the cafe for the Art, Blasphemy and Freedom of Speech event, where the star speaker was to be Lars Vilks, a Swedish artist who depicted Muhammad as a dog in 2007 and whose life has been under threat ever since.

Before the event, security was tight. Bags were searched and body checks were carried out with a handheld detector.

“There were uniformed and plainclothed policemen, bodyguards for Lars that are with him 24 hours a day,” said Kolek. “There were so many official protection forces in that space, maybe 10, 15 people and there were people around the building as well.”

They didn’t just come to kill us, they wanted to stop us as free citizens of our countries where we have democracy

Within seconds of the shooting starting, security officers, including those supplied by the Swedish state to protect Vilks, shouted: “Everyone out, everyone down on the floor,” according to Helle Merete Brix, a freelance journalist who was chairing the event. She and Vilks were pushed out by his guards into a small food and drinks store room towards the back of the premises.

“The attacker was trying to shoot his way in through the lobby and into the hall where we were all sitting,” she said.

Kolek could hear Danish police shouting loudly and Brix said the Danish police and security guards fired back.

One of the attendees, 55-year-old Finn Nørgaard, a film director, had taken a break from the session and was outside “He was brutally shot at very, very short distance,” Brix said.

Back inside, the other attendees had no idea he had been killed but were worried for their own lives.

“I thought I can’t run for the fire escape because it is too far and I thought if he entered the room I could get shot in the back, so I had to find a hiding place on the side of the stage, between the speakers and a curtain,” said Kolek.

In the foyer, the gunman looked directly at a man working behind the bar who ducked and shielded a woman working with him from shots, he told Kolek afterwards.

“The whole bar was showered with bullets,” said Kolek. The barman told her the gunman was “Arabic looking”, with a beard and a scarf partially covering his face.

“He said it went quiet but he could feel [the attacker’s] presence still in the room and thought maybe he was reloading the gun. He grabbed the lady and ran upstairs and hid on the roof.”

Some attendees fled across a car park to the rear of the venue and were taken in by local residents.

“Chairs went flying around because everyone was looking for somewhere to run,” said Kolek. “There was a commotion of people trying to escape and the policemen were shouting really loud.”

Two of the event attendees just sat there, possibly in shock. “One man was Israeli and said, ‘I don’t move because we got used to these attacks.’”

Once it became apparent that the killer had either been killed or had gone and there were only police in the building, the people in the theatre started to come out but still did not know anyone had died.

“I said we should continue,” said Kolek. “They didn’t just come to kill us, they wanted to stop us openly, as free citizens of our countries where we have democracy, having discussions. When we disagree with someone we don’t come out and shoot people. I invited everyone back and everyone sat down. My friend Mariana helped me with the presentation, we showed the video, we had questions and answers from the floor. People were really listening and were focused. I cracked a few jokes because I thought we had been through such a terrible event we need to laugh.”

“She showed a lot of courage,” said Brix. “Instead of people panicking, she said let’s do what we intended to in the first place.”

Meanwhile, in Nørrebro – the traditionally working-class area of north-west Copenhagen where the gunman was eventually shot – residents were trying to come to terms with events.

Some locals in the mixed neighbourhood, which is home to immigrants from countries such as Turkey, Pakistan and Somalia as well as young Danish students, spoke of drug and gang crime, petty criminals, “beggars and junkies” and unemployment.

One local termed the area, which is just 15 minutes by bike from the city centre, a “rough neighbourhood”. But many said they enjoyed the cultural mix where people had long lived harmoniously together. Rosenberg had moved there 18 months ago in the quest for cheap housing. He liked the cultural mix. “It’s lovely that everyone lives peacefully together. All behaviour is accepted. Nobody ever looks at you, you can do what you want,” he said. But he added: “I would rather live anywhere else.”

Related: Copenhagen shootings suspect was 'known to police'

Frederik Larsen, 21, a professional skier who lives opposite the scene where police shot dead the suspect, said: “It’s normally really quiet here, other than a few fast cars, and some gangs that I hear about on the news. I love the multicultural aspect.” He said: “The attacks have made me think more than ever that everyone has the right to freedom of speech. But I really hope political extremism isn’t now going to increase and pull people further apart.”

Huma Hakimi, who moved to Denmark from Afghanistan 14 years ago, and works as a care assistant with old people, said: “Denmark is a free country – that’s what I like about it. It’s not like Afghanistan; you can do and say what you like.” She has experienced no discrimination as a Muslim in Denmark and said she had not taken the cartoons’ publication seriously 10 years ago. “I can only think the person who carried out these terrible attacks was crazy, lone.”

Bo Andersen, 52, an urban geographer who has lived in the working class north-west Copenhagen for 30 years, said: “The national mood is one of shock. I’m not surprised by the attacks, but it’s terrible. It’s a wake-up call about the world we’re living in. I think everyone is shocked. There have been so many attempts in the past 10 years and this is the first time Danish intelligence didn’t pick it up. Perhaps because it was a lone guy.”

He said he could see the argument for freedom of speech, but could not understand the reasoning behind publishing controversial cartoons. “I can’t see any reason you would just publish to make people angry – whether it’s Muhammad, Christ or anyone else.” He said he feared xenophobic politicians would benefit from the attacks, after the far-right Danish People’s party had already done well in European elections. “I would really hope for a lot less nationalism, in Denmark or Europe.”

Anita Pederson, 24, a local business and philosophy student, said she and her friends did not feel scared. “I knew Denmark was a possible target because of the cartoons, but I never thought it would happen, and happen so close,” she said, standing by the police cordon where the suspect was shot.