London: British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Sunday that the shootings in Copenhagen, that happened on 14 February 2015, were an attack on free speech and religious freedom.
The UK PM posted on the micro-blogging site Twitter: “The shootings in Copenhagen are an appalling attack on free speech and religious freedom.”
PM: The shootings in #Copenhagen are an appalling attack on #FreeSpeech and religious freedom. Read the PM statement: http://t.co/iDrbvwp95K
— UK Prime Minister (@Number10gov) February 15, 2015
He further said, as per the press statement released by his office, “Two innocent people have been murdered simply for their beliefs and my thoughts are with their loved ones and all those injured at this tragic time,” adding, “Denmark and Britain are both successful multi-ethnic, multi-faith democracies and we must never allow those values to be damaged by acts of violence like this.”
Cameron further said, “We offer our full support for the Danish government and Danish people as they deal with these terrible incidents.”
Meanwhile, Copenhagen police said today they believe a man shot dead by officers was responsible for two fatal attacks that shocked the normally peaceful Danish capital.
The killings, coming little more than a month after attacks in Paris that left 17 people dead, were described by Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt as "a cynical act of terror", as per AFP.
The man believed to be behind the shootings was shot dead after he opened fire on police at a rail station, a spokesman said.
It came after a 55-year-old man was killed at a panel discussion about Islam and free speech yesterday attended by the Swedish cartoonist behind controversial caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.
In the second attack, a Jewish man was killed and two police officers were wounded outside Copenhagen's main synagogue early today.
"We believe the same man was behind both shootings and we also believe that the perpetrator who was shot by the police action force at Noerrebro station is the person behind the two attacks," Torben Moelgaard Jensen told a press conference.
The first lethal attacks on Danish soil in decades were branded "deplorable" by the United States and triggered condemnation around the world.
Lars Vilks, whose controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed sparked worldwide protests in 2007, had been among the speakers at the Krudttoenden cultural centre when a man opened fire yesterday.
A man was killed when the gunman sprayed bullets at the centre, while a young Jewish man was gunned down outside the synagogue in central Copenhagen. Five police officers were wounded in the two attacks.
The killing of the suspected perpetrator capped a massive police manhunt launched after the gunman fled the scene following both shootings.
The shootout took place shortly before dawn in the inner- city neighbourhood of Noerrebro, where police had been keeping an address under observation.
Police said video surveillance had led to them to believe that the man killed by law enforcers was behind both attacks, but that a large amount of considerable investigative work would be required to ascertain that he was not acting with others.
With AFP inputs
