Sunday's shooting at a mall in Copenhagen resulted in three fatalities and other injuries, Danish police reported, adding that they had apprehended one suspect, a 22-year-old Dane.

The young man, who witnesses claimed was equipped with a massive rifle, was apprehended calmly shortly after police arrived at the large Fields shopping mall near the city center and the airport in Copenhagen.

Copenhagen police chief inspector Soren Thomassen told a news conference, "There are three dead and several injured, three of them in critical condition,"

The suspect's reasons, described by authorities as a 22-year-old man of "ethnic Dane," are unknown.

The police knew him "but only peripherally," Thomassen claimed.

We do not know him especially well.

The three fatalities were a man in his forties and two unidentified young persons.

People on social networks had speculated about a racist reason or another motive. Still, the investigation's chief stated, "but I cannot say that we have anything which supports that at this moment."

The police have acknowledged that they are investigating online videos claiming to show the suspect armed and pointing a gun toward his head.

Previously, Thomassen stated that police "can't exclude that it's terror" but believed the alleged gunman acted alone.

Images from the incident depicted parents carrying their children out of the building and ambulance personnel transporting victims on stretchers.

'We fled to save our lives'

At approximately 5:30 p.m., the gunfire generated fear in the mall.

A canceled event featuring British singer Harry Styles at the neighboring Royal Arena attracted many visitors.

"My daughters were expected to attend a Harry Styles concert. They informed me by phone that someone was shooting. They were in a restaurant when the incident occurred "Hans Christian Stolz, a 53-year-old Swede who had arrived to get his children, said AFP.

"We initially believed that people were fleeing because they had spotted Harry Styles, but then we realized that they were panicked... We fled to save our lives "Cassandra, his daughter, said.

"My team and I are praying for the victims of the Copenhagen mall incident. I am startled, "Styles wrote in a Snapchat message.

The attack occurred two days after the start of this year's Tour de France cycling tournament in Copenhagen, and Tour organizers issued a statement expressing their condolences.

"The entire caravan of the Tour de France sends its sincerest condolences to the victims and their families," the statement read.

According to witnesses cited by the Danish media, the suspect attempted to entice others to approach him by claiming his weapon was fake.

"He was sufficiently psychopathic to go and hunt people, but he wasn't running," a witness told state television in the Dominican Republic.

Other eyewitnesses informed Danish media that more than a hundred individuals fled the mall as the first bullets were fired.

The Schmidt, who was in the mall at the time of the incident, told TV2: "We could see that many people suddenly ran towards the exit and then we heard a bang,"

Then we also ran out of Fields.

We heard gunfire.

Police had asked those inside the building to wait until their arrival while urging others to avoid the area.

Additionally, police requested that witnesses get in touch with them and urged mall-goers to contact their loved ones to comfort them.

Isabella told public broadcaster DR, "All of a sudden we heard gunshots, I heard 10 shots, and we ran as far as we could to take refuge in the toilet,"

She stated that she hid at the shopping center for two hours.

Other witnesses described the assailant as a man of around 1,8 meters (5 feet 9 inches) in height, holding a hunting rifle.

At approximately 7:30 p.m. (17:30 GMT), the roads surrounding the mall were blocked, the subway was shut down, and a helicopter was flying overhead, according to an AFP correspondent on the site.

Heavily armed police prohibited locals from returning to their houses and kept bystanders at bay.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen stated that Denmark was the victim of a "cruel attack" at a mall where families were shopping and dining.

The shooting occurred just over a week after a shooter opened fire near a homosexual pub in Oslo, Norway, killing two individuals and injuring twenty-one others.

In February 2015, a series of Islamist-inspired gunshots in Copenhagen resulted in two deaths and five injuries.