The slain gunman behind two deadly shooting attacks in Copenhagen was released from jail just two weeks ago and might have become radicalized there last summer, a source close to the Danish terror investigation told The Associated Press on Monday.
Two Danish sources close to the investigation confirmed to the AP that the slain gunman was named Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein. They spoke on condition of anonymity because Copenhagen police have not named the gunman, who they said was a 22-year-old Dane with a history of violence and gang connections. Several Danish media have already named him.
One source told the AP that El-Hussein had been in pre-trial detention for a long time but was released two weeks ago. He also said the corrections authority had alerted Danish security service PET last year after they noticed worrisome changes in El-Hussein’s behavior last summer.
He wouldn’t give specifics but said such alerts are issued when inmates change their attitude or behavior in way that “sets off alarm bells.”
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“The terrorist attacks have the same causes in Paris and Copenhagen,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said Monday as she visited Copenhagen in a show of solidarity. “Our cities are symbols of democracy, Paris and Copenhagen. We are here and we are not afraid.”
Denmark’s last deadly terror attack took place in 1985, when a bomb exploded outside the Copenhagen office of airline North West Orient, killing a 27-year-old Algerian tourist.
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AP journalist Philipp-Moritz Jenne contributed to this report.
