Crown Prince of Denmark leads tributes to victims of Copenhagen shopping centre massacre at poignant memorial service

• Prince Frederick was joined by his son Prince Christian to offer condolences to the families of three victims
• PM Mette Frederiksen, Justice Minister Mattias Tesfaye and Mayor Sophie Hastore also visited the memorial
• Well-wishers hugged each other and cried in each other’s arms as they remembered their loved ones 
• Shooter, named yesterday as 22-year-old Noah Esbensen, opened fire with a rifle inside Field’s mall on Sunday
• He is being held in a psychiatric ward for 24 days with police believing he has mental health issues
• Two Danes and a Russian man were killed in his attack, while seven others were injured, four critically 

The Crown Prince of Denmark led tributes to the victims of the Copenhagen shopping centre massacre at a moving memorial ceremony this evening.

Prince Frederick was joined by his son Prince Christian to offer condolences to the families of the three people killed and the seven injured in the country’s worst ever shooting.

The country’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Justice Minister Mattias Tesfaye and Copenhagen Mayor Sophie Hastore also offered their sympathies at the heart-felt vigil outside the Field’s shopping mall where the innocent were shot on Sunday afternoon.

Well-wishers hugged each other and cried in each other’s arms as they remembered their loved ones, their friends and their colleagues who were caught up in the terrible drama.

The shooter, named yesterday as 22-year-old Noah Esbensen, opened fire with a rifle inside Field’s mall in a rampage that began at 5.35pm Sunday and lasted for 13 terrifying minutes. 

Danish Crown Prince Frederik and his son Prince Christian (R) attend a memorial service in front of the Field’s shopping centre

The thousands-strong crowd at the memorial (pictured) were consoled by the gentle voices of the Ung Klang choir who sang songs of love and peace

A young girl lays flowers at a memorial site in Copenhagen where three people were killed by a lone gunman on Sunday

People gather at the entrance of the Field’s shopping center in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday, July 5, 2022, for a memorial service

A couple comfort each other while standing at a memorial to the people killed in the shooting on Sunday

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, foreground and Minister of justice Mattias Tesfaye lay flowers at the entrance of the Field’s shopping centre in Copenhagen, Denmark

Well-wishers hugged each other and cried in each other’s arms as they remembered their loved ones, their friends and their colleagues who were caught up in the terrible drama

Police say the gunman who killed three people when he opened fire in a crowded shopping mall acted alone and apparently selected his victims at random

Police say Esbensen has mental health issues and there is no indication the shooting was an act of terror, adding that his victims were chosen at random

The bouquets included hand-written notes to honour the memory of those who were killed in the massacre

The thousands-strong crowd at the memorial were consoled by the gentle voices of the Ung Klang choir who sang songs of love and peace.

They were joined by Danish singer Andreas Odbjerg’s band who performed two songs from a stage that had been hastily erected in the street outside the mall.

The crowd held a minute’s silence halfway through the 30-minute memorial as a mark of respect.

Before the memorial service got underway, school-friends of two 17-year-olds murdered in the tragedy and other well-wishers filed past the centre’s front door to lay flowers and pay their respects.

A 47-year-old man, who was originally from Russia, was also killed in the attack.

Nicoline Frydenborg, 21, and her father Jan, were among the well-wishers in attendance at the memorial service.

Nicoline told MailOnline: ‘This is such a terrible thing to have happened. There are so many victims to this tragedy.’

Baby-faced Esbensen was arrested outside the mall by armed police and hauled to court on Monday where he was charged with carrying out Denmark’s worst mass shooting.

Police said this morning he has mental health issues and there is no indication the attack was an act of terror, saying he was ‘not motivated by gender or anything else’.

In court, Esbensen spoke only to confirm his name, sitting alongside his lawyers and flanked by three heavily armed police officers. The doors and windows of the court were barred to prevent any escape attempt. 

His attorneys refused to enter a plea and the judge ordered the rest of the hearing would be held behind closed doors. 

The suspect will now be held in the closed psychiatric ward for 24 days. 

Noah Esbensen, 22, appeared in court on Monday charged with shooting three dead at a mall in Copenhagen on Sunday. Before the attack, he uploaded videos that showed him pointing guns at his own head (above)

Esbensen, an ethnic Dane, was carrying a hunting rifle and a pistol when he attacked crowds of shoppers at the Field’s mall – leaving three dead and four others critically wounded 

Esbensen was arrested at 5.48pm local time, 13 minutes after the attack began, and is now being held in a psychiatric facility

Young women flee the scene of a shooting in Copenhagen which left four people critically injured and three dead

Esbensen’s victims were a 47-year-old Russian national who had been living in Demark and two Danish 17-year-olds – one male and one female – who died of bullet wounds, police revealed without naming them.

Four more are in critical condition in hospital after being shot: Two Danes – both women, one aged 40 and another aged 19 – and two Swedish citizens – a man aged 50 and a woman aged 16. 

Investigators say it appears the victims were chosen at random and the attacker acted alone. 

Esbensen had posted videos on social media the day before the attack in which he posed with the handgun and rifle he is thought to have used in the shooting and put their muzzles to his head. 

He also uploaded playlists entitled ‘Killer Music’ and ‘Last Thing to Listen To’, writing underneath that ‘Quetiapine does not work’.

Quetiapine is a powerful anti-psychotic medication that is used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression. It can also be used to treat drug addiction. 

It is thought Esbensen had reached out to a mental health helpline shortly before his attack.

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