Denmark movie theaters close out of respect for mall shooting victims

Denmark’s largest cinema chain kept all its movie theaters closed Tuesday because a 17-year-old employee was one of the three people killed in a weekend shooting attack at a shopping mall.

Nordisk Film Biografer, which has 23 theaters nationwide, said on Facebook that the company made the decision out of respect for the victims — the teenage boy it employed, a 17-year-old girl and a 47-year-old Russian man — and “to talk the situation through with our staff.”

One of the chain’s locations is at the Field’s shopping center, on the outskirts of the Danish capital, where Sunday’s mass shooting took place.

Four other people were hospitalized in critical but stable condition after suffering gunshot wounds. Authorities have said that a 22-year-old Danish man now in custody had apparently selected people to shoot at random.

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In all, about two dozen people were hurt, most in the panicked stampede after the shooting started out at the mall. Neither the gunman nor the victims can be named under a court order.

A memorial service for the victims is planned for Tuesday night. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Copenhagen Mayor Sophie H. Andersen are expected to attend.

Authorities have said the suspect acted alone, and they have ruled out terrorism as a motive. On Monday, the suspect was ordered held for 24 days in a secure mental health facility on preliminary charges of murder and attempted murder.

Stine Rysgaard, a spokeswoman for the shopping mall, said the multistory retail center with more than 130 shops would remain closed until at least Monday. She said the mall had proper security but declined to give details, citing the ongoing investigation.