Second Copenhagen shooting at Synagogue. One suspect dead, second arrested. Update: Second arrest

Ed was all over the coverage of the first shooting in Copenhagen yesterday, along with the manhunt which was going on for the shooter or shooters. For those who thought that it was all too reminiscent of the recent Charlie Hebdo shootings, things only became more similar when a second shooting took place hours afterward. At this point it may come as no surprise that the follow-on attack took place at the Krystalgade Street synagogue, only a few miles from the original attack. One Jewish man was killed as he provided security for a Bar Mitzvah ceremony taking place inside. Two more police officers were injured.

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As of early this morning, authorities are reporting that the person who is suspected in both shootings was killed by police only a few miles away.

Police say they killed the man in the Norrebro district after he opened fire on them.

It came after one person was killed and three police officers injured at a free speech debate in a cafe on Saturday.

In the second attack, a Jewish man was killed and two police officers wounded near the city’s main synagogue.

Police say video surveillance suggested the same man carried out both attacks. They do not believe any other people were involved.

“We assume that it’s the same culprit behind both incidents, and we also assume that the culprit that was shot by the police task force… is the person behind both of these assassinations,” Chief Police Inspector Torben Molgaard Jensen told a news conference.

Other outlets are reporting that a second man was arrested, but few details were offered and they said that other “loose ends” need to be addressed. A quick look at this map published by the BBC shows the relatively small size of the area where all this mayhem unfolded.

CopenhagenMap

I don’t know how many more “similarities” you need before we can identify what happened here. The first attack took place at a location associated with free speech and a cartoonist who had “offended” the terrorists. Shortly thereafter, the attacker shows up at the one place in the immediate vicinity where one would most likely find a concentration of Jews and begins shooting. He then winds up in a shootout with the police and goes down in a hail of bullets. It’s almost as if somebody handed him a script.

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What seems remarkable to me is how quickly the authorities have come out to say that they found the (singular) guy who did this and that the threat was neutralized. The second individual is still a maybe. After everything we saw in Paris and the constantly shifting reporting, multiple videos and social media posts turning up and an expanding list of suspects who disappeared into the night, are we really sure this one guy and a possible accomplice acted completely by themselves? That doesn’t just sound “unconfirmed” at this early stage, but downright improbable. The shooter obtained weapons and ammunition somehow. Surely he had other friends and other associates who need to be checked on.

As with yesterday’s thread, we’ll keep this one updated if there are more developments, but for the moment it seems like the carnage is thankfully over.

UPDATE: CNN is reporting that a second arrest has been made, but details remain closely held. Also the shooter is still not officially identified by name (though readers have some good clues) but he is being described.

As of Sunday night, police still hadn’t released the name of the gunman, who they said was wearing clothes similar to the synagogue shooter and had two guns when officers shot him to death early Sunday.

Police did say in a statement that the suspected shooter was a 22-year-old man born in Denmark. He was “well known by the police for several criminal incidents,” according to police.

Those incidents include weapons violations and violence, according to police, who said he also was “known in connection to gangs.”

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Not much to go on, but at least they are working the case.

UPDATE: (Jazz) We have a name and a bit of history on the shooter. Bonus: he was in jail only a fortnight ago.

Copenhagen terror attack suspect named as 22-year-old Omar el-Hussein, who ‘had violent past’

The dead suspect, named on Sunday night as Omar el-Hussein, had reportedly been released from prison two weeks ago after serving a two-year sentence for grievous bodily harm.

As with the Charlie Hebdo attackers, the head of the Danish security and intelligence service, Jens Madsen, said on Sunday that the gunman had been identified as a potential threat.

“He was on the radar but he was not known to have travelled to conflict areas like Iraq or Syria,” Mr Madsen said. “We cannot yet say anything concrete about the motive … but we are considering that he might have been inspired by the events in Paris,” he told a news conference.

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