With the assailant now dead, some questions might never be answered. But more and more details are starting to surface.
Here’s the latest:
Cartoonist, possible target speaks out
The carnage started Saturday afternoon when the gunman stormed a Copenhagen cafe where Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks was attending a free speech forum.
Vilks is known for his controversial depictions of the Prophet Mohammed. He’s named on an al Qaeda hit list and travels everywhere with a bodyguard.
Once the attack started, Vilks noticed the gunman had more firepower with his rifle than the nearby officers with handguns.
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Even after the gunman was killed, police maintained a heavy presence on Copenhagen’s normally placid streets. It will stay that way for a while, Danish authorities said, to help residents and visitors feel secure.
“As a nation, we have experienced a series of hours we will never forget,” Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said Sunday.
“We have tasted the ugly taste of fear and powerlessness that terror would like to create. But we have also, as a society, answered back.”
But the Prime Minister stressed that the challenges Denmark now faces were not spawned by a religion at large.
“This is not a battle between Islam and the West, and it is not a battle between Muslims and non-Muslims, but a battle between the values of freedom for the individual and a dark ideology.”
CNN’s Susanne Gargiulo reported from Copenhagen. CNN’s Holly Yan reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN’s Nic Robertson, Paul Cruickshank and Catherine E. Shoichet also contributed to this report.
