23-year-old Danish shooter who believed victims were zombies sentenced to mental health facility

• A 23-year-old man who has not been identified by the police has been sentenced to detention in a secure medical facility in connection with a mass shooting at a mall in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• The shooter, who claimed he thought the victims were zombies, killed three people and injured 23 others.
• A Danish court found that the shooter planned the attack and took a reconnaissance trip to the mall prior to the rampage.

A 23-year-old man in Denmark who opened fire at a mall last year and killed three people believing the victims were zombies was sentenced Wednesday to detention in a secure medical facility.

The Copenhagen District Court convicted the man, who was not identified during the trial because of court rules, of murder and attempted murder in the July 3, 2022 rampage at the huge Field’s shopping center on the outskirts of Copenhagen.

Three people died — two 17-year-olds and a 47-year-old Russian man — and a total of 23 people were injured, including those who were hurt in the commotion that followed.

Prosecutor Søren Harbo welcomed the verdict and said that “one must not forget that it was a day that affected many people, several of whom are unfortunately still struggling with physical and psychological consequences.”

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The court found that the man had planned the attack, noting that he had taken a reconnaissance trip to the mall before the rampage. It also ruled that he was insane, and sentenced him Wednesday to a secure medical facility with no maximum time set.

The man had admitted to police that he shot and killed people, but said that he believed at the time that they were zombies. During trial, it emerged that just ahead of the rampage, the man had tried to contact a counseling help line to talk about his delusions but the hours of the help line had been changed due to summer vacation. He never reached anyone.

The man used a rifle, a nine-millimeter pistol and ammunition that he had stolen from his father’s arms cabinet. His father had the weapons legally.

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On the last day of the trial on June 30, he said that “after I started getting strong antipsychotic medication, I can no longer see myself in what I have done.” In court, he apologized to the relatives and survivors and “to those who did not survive.”

The ruling was not immediately appealed by either side.

The shooting prompted the cancellation of a nearby concert that Sunday evening by singer Harry Styles. A few days after the attack, thousands gathered outside the mall to pay tribute to the victims, including Crown Prince Frederik and Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen who described it as “cruel, unjust and senseless.”