Danish taskforce concludes no single reason for Field’s shooting
A taskforce appointed to scrutinise events leading up to a lethal shooting at Copenhagen shopping mall Field’s in July has concluded its work.
The suspected shooter, a 22-year-old man, had contacted psychiatric services in the Danish capital prior to the attack, in which three people were killed and several wounded.
A taskforce was appointed to evaluate the sequence of events leading to the shooting, specifically in relation to the suspected shooter's contact with mental health services in Copenhagen. Few details of this have been released due to data protection laws.
The taskforce concluded that the shooting could not be attributed to any single cause, its chairperson said on Tuesday.
“There was nothing in our investigations that has suggested we would be able to find a core reason,” Tina Gram Larsen, medical director of the North Jutland regional health authority, the head of the taskforce, said at a briefing.
READ ALSO: Denmark’s mental health services in spotlight after Copenhagen shooting
The taskforce is to make six recommendations for psychiatric services in measures aimed at preventing similar tragedies in future.
Those include better continuity in treatments so that patients are not frequently moved between different personnel.
Although the recommendations show that improvements can be made, Larsen said that “this is not a statement that if we’d only done these things, it would never have happened”.
The 22-year-old suspected shooter was arrested shortly after the attacks took place. He is currently detained at a secure psychiatric unit. He is held on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
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The suspected shooter, a 22-year-old man, had contacted psychiatric services in the Danish capital prior to the attack, in which three people were killed and several wounded.
A taskforce was appointed to evaluate the sequence of events leading to the shooting, specifically in relation to the suspected shooter's contact with mental health services in Copenhagen. Few details of this have been released due to data protection laws.
The taskforce concluded that the shooting could not be attributed to any single cause, its chairperson said on Tuesday.
“There was nothing in our investigations that has suggested we would be able to find a core reason,” Tina Gram Larsen, medical director of the North Jutland regional health authority, the head of the taskforce, said at a briefing.
READ ALSO: Denmark’s mental health services in spotlight after Copenhagen shooting
The taskforce is to make six recommendations for psychiatric services in measures aimed at preventing similar tragedies in future.
Those include better continuity in treatments so that patients are not frequently moved between different personnel.
Although the recommendations show that improvements can be made, Larsen said that “this is not a statement that if we’d only done these things, it would never have happened”.
The 22-year-old suspected shooter was arrested shortly after the attacks took place. He is currently detained at a secure psychiatric unit. He is held on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
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