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At the beginning of the trial of the frenzy at Copenhagen’s Field shopping center with three dead and several injured, the accused refused to testify. That is why excerpts from interrogations were read in court on Monday.

Her client can hardly remember what happened almost a year ago, said lawyer Luise Høj in the Danish capital as the reason. She stressed that there was no doubt that the Dane was at the mall that day, carrying a gun and firing several shots, killing and injuring people. However, the 23-year-old claims he is mentally ill and therefore not guilty. In police interrogations, he said he chose the mall at random.

The prosecutor charges the suspect with three murders and multiple attempted murders. If some of the injured could not be treated quickly by rescuers, the death toll would have been significantly higher, prosecutor Søren Harbo said. Several injured will testify at the hearing this Tuesday and other days. Videos from the mall were also shown during the process. The public was also excluded because of drastic scenes.

The Field’s shopping center in the Ørestad district of Copenhagen is one of the largest in Scandinavia. The shooting on July 3, 2022, killed a girl and a boy, each 17 years old, and a 46-year-old man. Several other people were injured. The then 22-year-old suspect was arrested a few minutes after the shots were fired in front of the building. He has been in custody ever since, but in a closed psychiatric ward instead of prison.

Six days of hearings, ending July 5, are scheduled for the Copenhagen court. (sda/dpa)