Denmark Police Shoot Dead Man Who Opened Fire On Them, As City Reels From Copenhagen Attacks

Update as of 02:25 a.m. EST: Police in Denmark say they believe the man killed in a shootout with officers early Sunday was responsible for the terror attacks in the city that left two people dead and five wounded this weekend.

"We assume that it’s the same culprit behind both incidents, and we also assume that the culprit that was shot by the police task force on Norreport station is the person behind both of these assassinations," Chief police inspector Torben Molgaard Jensen told Reuters.

The Associated Press quoted Investigator Joergen Skov as saying that nothing uncovered during the preliminary investigation suggests that there were other gunmen involving in the shootings.

This is a developing story -- check back for further updates.

Original story below

Police in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, shot and killed a man in the early hours of Sunday, as the city reeled from two separate gun attacks over the weekend that left two people dead and five wounded.

According to a statement released by authorities, police had an address in Nørrebro area of the city under observation, and saw a person of interest to their investigations nearby. Officers hailed the man, who fired at police, and was killed when officers returned fire.

No police were injured in the exchange, the statement said. No further information has been released about the dead man, but police are due to hold a press conference later today.

Authorities are investigating whether the man had any connection to the shootings that have rocked the city over the weekend.

One person was killed and three wounded when a gunman opened fire on a free speech event being held at a Copenhagen cultural center Saturday. Hours later a gun attack against a synagogue in the city left one person dead and two wounded. The man killed by police Sunday was shot near to where the other shootings took place.

Though authorities have not made clear whether the attacks were related, Denmark's prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, earlier told Reuters, speaking of the first incident: “We feel certain now that it was a politically motivated attack, and thereby it was a terrorist attack."

The attacks come one month after Islamist gunmen massacred staff at the Paris offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, while another man subsequently took hostages at a Kosher grocery store in the city soon after.

Though no group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Denmark, there are similarities between them, insofar as the initial attacks in both countries targeted people who had caused anger in the Muslim world by depicting the Prophet Muhammad, and the latter attacks targeted Jews.

Lars Vilks, 68, a Swedish artist who has drawn criticism in the past for drawing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, was slated to speak at the Saturday event and said he thinks he was the shooter’s target. French magazine Charlie Hebdo had also published cartoons of Muhammad in the past, and its staff had received death threats before the attack on its offices.