COPENHAGEN (VG) On Sunday, Priscilla (35) ran for her life from the shots inside Field’s. Two days later, she was back, along with hundreds of others, to take back the mall.
Updated less than 10 minutes ago
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– It is hard to be back, says Alma (32) to VG.
She and her friend Priscilla (35) were inside the mall on Sunday and were actually going to separate teams to go to the toilet. But the queue was long, and Alma went back to Priscilla. Soon after, they heard shots.
– I was numb at first, says Priscilla who says that at first she was unsure if the sound was actually shot.
– It’s Denmark. You do not expect it.
She says that she saw a woman with two children talking to what she says was her husband who was stuck inside the center. The children must have shouted “get out, Dad”.
– Then I understood that it was serious. I only heard two sounds and was confused about what it was, I saw people crying and shouting around me. But you do not believe it until you see it.
– Three lives brutally torn away
Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen, the Danish royal family and a sea of people showed up at the celebration on Tuesday night to remember the victims of the mass shooting.
– Three lives were brutally torn away, said a clearly moved Mette Fredriksen in her speech.
– A man and two young people of only 17 years with their whole lives ahead of them.
Flowers lay in clusters around the mall. People cried, lit candles and hugged each other. Groups of teenagers held each other, clearly moved by the fact that two of those who died were only 17 years old.
–– It’s cruelly unfair. And meaningless. Tonight we mourn together and we remember, said the Prime Minister.
– But you should know that the whole of Denmark is with you. We mourn with you and we share your pain.
The celebration was opened with choir singing by Ungklang, the group that recently received a lot of attention when former US President Barack Obama shared a video of the choir during a visit to Copenhagen in June.
–– We were shocked
Norwegian Zainab (10) and his mother Sidra Abbas (39) have lived in Denmark for 12 years. They live in the immediate area and were at Field’s half an hour before the shooting started. The shopping center is their everyday place, says Sidra.
– We were shocked. Every now and then I thought: What would have happened if I had been there? Every time we came to the center I go for myself and she goes for herself.
– Imagine if we had been there and she had not been with me, and I had not found her. What had happened then? These are the thoughts that do not let go. It’s hard.
–Sidra says that the entire local community is affected by what happened on Sunday. Zainab himself goes to school nearby, and can see the mall from the school.
– How do you feel about coming back to the center?
– No, I will never come back, says Zainab.
Still, it felt important to show up at the memorial service, says Sidra.
– I thought I would never go near this area and never enter the center again. But I thought I should try, because it helps to be back in place, she says.
– Could have been me
Caroline Hansen (17) was going to a Harry Styles concert when she heard about the shooting. The concert was canceled due to the chaos at the mall nearby.
Caroline knows two people who were inside the center during the shooting episode, she tells VG. Tears ran down her cheeks as she watched the sea of flowers outside the mall.
– They were 17, so it could just as well have been me, she says about two of those who were killed.
The third was a 47-year-old man.
– Children must be immortal
The island of Amager, where the shopping center is located, is part of Copenhagen Municipality. It was the municipality, led by Mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen, who took the initiative to hold Tuesday’s celebration.
– We live in a fantastic city that many people dream of living in. We for the father will not accept that shots are fired in our streets, Andersen says.
– Children must be immortal, she says and thanks those who intervened:
– It could have been much worse. We owe the police and rescue crew a big thank you. The cruel shooting makes no sense.
Watch VGTV’s broadcast from memorial service after the Copenhagen shooting:
Charged with murder
Videos have shown how the perpetrator got away with firearms at the center, which is the largest in Scandinavia. A total of ten people were shot. The injured are out of danger on Tuesday.
Eyewitnesses have previously described the 13 dramatic minutes characterized by flight and panic, where several people hid in shops, back rooms and restaurants while the shots fell in several places in the mall.
– Down from the floor below, it rolled up with people fleeing the shots. They rolled into shops to get away, a witness told Danish TV 2.
A 22-year-old man is charged with three murders and seven attempted murders. It is unclear how he will respond to the accusation. Monday he stayed remanded in custody for 24 days in a closed psychiatric ward. His mental state must be assessed.
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