A man who fatally shot three people in a mall in Copenhagen, Denmark last year because he believed his victims were zombies has been sentenced to detention in a secure medical facility.
The 23-year-old man, whose identity has not been released due to court orders, was convicted Wednesday by the Copenhagen District Court.
The incident occurred about a year ago at the Field’s shopping mall on the outskirts of the Danish capital. Two teenagers, a boy and a girl, both 17, as well as a 47-year-old Russian man, were killed in the rampage that rocked the Nordic nation of 27 million people.
“It was the worst possible nightmare,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on July 4, 2022, referring to the incident as “unusually brutal.”
Four other people had to be taken to a hospital after suffering gunshot wounds, while nearly two dozen people were reportedly injured in a stampede that followed the shooting.
The man, who confessed to the shootings, used a rifle, a 9mm pistol and ammunition he had stolen from his father’s cabinet. He told police he believed he was shooting at zombies.
On Wednesday, the court ruled the man was insane. He was sentenced to a secure medical facility with no maximum time set.
During the trial, the court heard he had visited the mall at an earlier date, while he was planning the attack.
It was also established he tried to contact a counseling helpline before the shootings but wasn’t able to reach anyone because the hours of the service had changed due to summer vacation.
“After I started getting strong antipsychotic medication, I can no longer see myself in what I have done,” he told the court Friday, on the last day of his trial.
He also apologized to the families of those he killed and those who survived the shooting.