By Nikolaj Skydsgaard
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – A Danish court sentenced a 23-year-old man on Wednesday to indefinite psychiatric treatment at a secure facility for the killing of three people during a shooting spree in a Copenhagen shopping mall a year ago.
The man killed two 17-year-olds and a 46-year-old man on July 3 last year when he opened fire at the Field’s mall in the capital’s southern outskirts. He has admitted to the shootings but said he was mentally ill at the time.
Seven other people were wounded during the gun attack, four of them seriously, and 20 people were lightly injured in the rush to flee the scene of the shooting, which plunged the nation into mourning.
“It was a day that affected many people, many of whom are sadly still struggling with physical and psychological scars,” prosecutor Soren Harbo said outside the Copenhagen court.
The 23-year-old – who has not been named due to his mental illness – expressed deep regret over the killings as the trial neared its conclusion, national broadcaster DR reported last week from the courtroom.
He said his actions had become clear to him after he had started taking antipsychotic medication.
“Apologies to the relatives. Apologies to those who survived. Apologies to those who didn’t survive. Apologies to those who are traumatised. I’m sorry,” he was quoted as saying by the broadcaster.
The court found the man guilty of all charges, including assault with intent to kill, and said the attack had been meticulously planned, it said in a statement.
But it declared that he was mentally ill at the time of the shootings, which meant he was sentenced to undergo psychiatric treatment at a secure facility for an indefinite amount of time rather than a regular prison sentence.
Doctors and a court would have to approve his eventual release.
The man’s lawyer, Luise Hoj, declined to comment on the verdict but told Reuters she and her client would need time to read the entire ruling and consider a possible appeal.
(This story has been refiled to fix a typo in paragraph 10)
(Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard; Editing by Helen Popper)
