Attack On Copenhagen Cafe Apparently Aimed At Cartoonist
February 14, 201511:31 AM ET
Scott Neuman
Damaged glass is seen at the site of a shooting in Copenhagen on Saturday. Shots were fired near a
meeting in the Danish capital that was attended by controversial Swedish artist Lars Vilks.
Scanpix Denmark/Reuters/Landov
Updated at 2:20 p.m. ET
Danish media are reporting that as many as 40 shots were fired at the window of a cafe in Copenhagen where Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has been threatened over his 2007 caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, was attending a free-speech meeting.
TV2 and the Danish Ritzau news agency say Copenhagen Police have confirmed that one person, described as a 40-year-old "civilian," was killed and three officers were wounded in the gunfire. There were reports that the French ambassador, Francois Zimeray, was also present and may have been slated as a speaker. He is reportedly unharmed.
USA Today says: "Vilks, 68, was hustled into the kitchen of the Krudttoenden cafe by bodyguards."
Danish police said in a statement that two suspects fled in a dark-colored Volkswagen Polo and that they considered the incident an attempted assassination of Vilks.
Denmark's Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt echoed that sentiment. She called the shooting an "act of terrorism" and said it had all the signs of a political assassination.