Police: Suspect in Copenhagen Attacks Killed
CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: You hear all of that gunfire from yesterday morning, but now, police say they shot the lone gunman who fired those shots. One after another in Denmark. That shooter sprayed bullets into a Copenhagen cafe where a Swedish cartoonist who had caricatured the Prophet Muhammad and had received death threats was set to speak. He had escaped unharmed. A filmmaker however was killed.</s>MARTIN SAVIDE, CNN ANCHOR: That was the first of two deadly attacks that put the Danish capital on edge. It still remains that way. The other happened near a synagogue, killing a 37-year-old. Following a massive manhunt, the suspect in both of those attacks was killed in a shootout with police overnight.</s>PAUL: So let's talk on the phone here to journalist Astrid Sondberg. She is in Copenhagen right now. And, Astrid, I understand that you've got some new information for us about these victims.</s>ASTRID SONDBERG, JOURNALIST (via telephone): We're learning more about the man that police consider to be the same man who has been behind both shootings. He was shot dead by the police tonight. They're awaiting at an apartment where a taxi driver had dropped the man off. The police tells us that they actually knew about this man before the shooting. We are not sure why, but the secret police in Denmark has been looking into this guy. We are not sure if he has been in an area of the police system. No evidence puts him in Syria or anywhere else but we know that the police were aware of this guy.</s>PAUL: OK. What do we know about the victims in this case?</s>SONDBERG: We know that the filmmaker who was 55 years old was killed at the first shooting. He was there because he was very interested in freedom of speech. He was interested in the right to talk freely, especially after the "Charlie Hebdo" shootings in Paris. And we know that the second victim was a Jewish man standing guard at a bar mitzvah party which was being held at the synagogue in Copenhagen.</s>PAUL: All righty. And is there any indication at this point, Astrid, how long it may be before we'll learn more information about this suspect who's now dead?</s>SONDBERG: We have talked to some in the police and they tell us that they are very close to having a clear identification of the man. When they say that, it normally means that they actually know who he is now but they just have to conclude some investigation. So, we may hear more about who the man is later today. We do know, by the way, that he was a person living in Copenhagen. He had an address and was living in Copenhagen. That we know for sure.</s>PAUL: All right. Astrid Sondberg, we appreciate it. Of course, we know that police are at his residence. They're combing through evidence and they will give us the latest as soon as they can. Meanwhile, the controversial cartoonist apparently targeted in yesterday's attack first angered a lot of people back in 2000 sense because that's when Lars Vilks depicted the Prophet Muhammad with a picture of a dog. So, we want to talk to the person who was with Vilks, the forum with Vilks. Dennis Brink is with us. Dennis, thank you so much for being with us. So, you are in the cafe. This free speech meeting had just started. Talk to me about the moment you heard the shots. What happened?</s>DENNIS BRINK, WITNESS (via telephone): Yes. Well, I guess it was about 1/2 an hour into the meeting when we heard about, I think, 30 shots from the entrance room of the hall next to the meeting room in which we were. It took some seconds before we realized what was actually going on. But then as soon as people realized that, they -- panic broke out and everybody rushed to the doors and I was myself in a small group of five or six people who rushed to one door and just before we opened it we heard shots on the other side of the door that was in the street. Therefore, we didn't dare to go out of the door. So, we basically most of us stayed in the room just trying to hide between tables and chairs that were turned over. We were lying on the floor simply just hoping for the best.</s>PAUL: Now, I know that police got there fairly quickly. You said to me earlier you believe that he -- that this gunman may have gotten into the shop had the police not gotten there when they did?</s>BRINK: That -- sorry. I didn't get the last thing you said.</s>PAUL: Do you believe that this gunman might have tried to get into the shop itself had the police not gotten there as soon as they did?</s>BRINK: Oh, yes. Definitely. The police were on the spot already. There were some -- two police officers in uniform and there were some people from the Danish intelligence service there. And then, they prevented him from getting into the room. He tried -- as far as I'm informed, he tried to get in the back door first and there were no police guards there but the door was locked and so he apparently gave up that plan and went in through the main entrance. And there was a lot of police intelligence service there. They opened gunfire against him. Yes, that prevented him from getting into the room where we are.</s>PAUL: Well, Dennis, we are certainly grateful that you are OK. Thank you so much for sharing with us what you know. And your experience from that incident. Best of luck to you. Thank you.</s>BRINK: You're welcome.</s>SAVIDGE: Let's bring in now retired Army lieutenant colonel and Pentagon consultant, Bob Maginnis. Colonel Maginnis, was Denmark really prepared for this kind of attack? We know they have heightened security. But it didn't seem that that they were fully cognizant that it could very well happen. LT. COL. ROBERT MAGINNIS, U.S. ARMY</s>SAVIDGE: And if the police were responding to what they may have seen in Paris, is it also possible that the gunman may have been wanting to emulate something he saw in Paris?</s>MAGINNIS: The copycat types of events are not uncommon. The hatchet attack against police in New York City. We saw the Sydney attack and, of course, the Paris attack. These seem to be spun up results of, you know, some pretty terrible ideology that, you know, if this turns out to be another radical Islamist, then we'll have more evidence that this is something that is perpetrating across the globe. Clearly, you have law enforcement on the edge. Europe, of course, is really turning anti-immigrant, which is a tragedy but something that understandably, given this type of random violence, is very disconcerting to the local populations.</s>SAVIDGE: The first attack appears to have been motivated to maybe strike revenge against a cartoonist. The second attack appeared to have been against a synagogue which, of course, suggests something else completely different.</s>MAGINNIS: Well, it does. If you go back to -- especially if you see what the statements out of ISIL are, they're saying, go after any unbeliever, and they name Jews as well. And so, if you're doing what they told you to do and you believe that your cause is correct, then you're going to -- you know, you're going to visit local synagogues, you're going to visit local cafes where that particular group of people may go and that's going to help spin you up. Now, of course, the local police are going to go after evidence of purchases of weapons, IEDs, evidence of, you know, looking at a particular facility, you know, more than once. And, of course, this particular event would have drawn a lot of attention in the papers even if it hadn't been a shootout because of Mr. Vilks and his past reputation. So, I think people around the world are going to see, you know, there is some forensic evidence here to suggest that these types of events are going to draw lone wolves, therefore, we must be vigilant, we must do our due diligence in preparation for this, and I think we'll see a better local police. But the real answer here is not a military operation, not a worldwide attack against a particular group of people. It's local police, local citizens being vigilant. You know, thinking about where they can escape to if something like this were to happen. If you're going to an event like this, Martin, you have to anticipate there's going to be at least a verbal confrontation if not a violent confrontation.</s>SAVIDGE: Yes, personal awareness. Very good point. Lieutenant Colonel Bob Maginnis, thank you very much.</s>MAGINNIS: Thank you, Martin.</s>PAUL: So, the second big story we're following is the blizzard that I know a lot of you are probably sitting at home looking out the window and you see it right there. We're going to take you live to hard-hit Massachusetts where they're expected to get some of the worst from the storm, but they are not the only ones.