1st Ld Writethru: Danish police officer in critical condition after being shot in head

The condition of a police officer, who was shot in the head earlier on Tuesday at a police station here, has worsened with doctors saying he is in "critical condition."

The 43-year-old officer, a dog handler, was shot at 8:20 a.m. (0720 GMT) in the Copenhagen suburb of Albertslund.

Police has previously said he was out of danger, and a perpetrator had been arrested. Police districts across Denmark have since stepped up security to guard police stations.

"Copenhagen Vestegnen Police have arrested a 26-year-old Danish man for the shooting," police said in a statement.

The man was previously known to police and it is believed to have acted alone. "This is the work of a madman," police said.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said he was shocked by the incident.

"It is terrible in every way that a policeman on his way to work has been shot. The men and women who go to work every day to take care of us should not live in fear when they move about in Denmark," he said in a press statement.

It is the second time this year police officers have been hit by gunfire.

In August, two police officers conducting a drug raid in Copenhagen's Christiania district were shot in the leg and head respectively, by a sympathizer of the Islamic State terror group. Endit