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Denmark mourns victims of Copenhagen shootings

Xinhua, February 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Tens of thousands of citizens gathered in the Danish capital of Copenhagen on Monday evening to mourn the victims of the weekend's shootings that left two people dead.

The memorial in Copenhagen started at around 8 p.m. in an open area near the Krudttoenden cultural center, where the first shooting occurred on Saturday afternoon.

Addressing the huge yet solemn and silent crowd, Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt called on people with different ethnic and religious backgrounds to unite.

"We stand shoulder to shoulder, Jews, Muslims, Christians. We stand together as Danes," she told the crowd, some of whom holding flags, torches, candles or banners.

Hours after the first attack on Saturday, the gunman came to a synagogue in downtown area, where he shot a Jew in his head and wounded two police officers.

"I would say to all Danish Jews: You are not alone. An attack on Danish Jews is an attack on all Danes and on us all," the prime minister said.

She also thanked those who travelled to Copenhagen to show support, including the Swedish minister of home affairs Anders Ygeman. "We are so very grateful for all the support that we have felt," the prime minister said.

Addressing a press conference on Monday afternoon, Thorning-Schmidt stressed again that the weekend's shootings was an act of terrorism, although there was so far no evidence to indicate that the 22-year-old gunman was part of a terrorist cell.

She said cooperation with other nations in the fight against terrorism is important.

"The Danish authorities have for a long time cooperated with other nations to combat terrorism, which is not only a domestic but also an international issue. We will continue to do that," the prime minister said.

Similar memorials were held in several other cities across the country on Monday, including the second largest city of Aarhus and Odense, the hometown to Hans Christian Anderson.

Also on Monday, Denmark's national flags were at half-mast at government buildings to commemorate the shooting victims. Enditem