One 40 year old man is dead and at least two police officers are wounded after a Charlie Hebdo-style attack on a cafe in Copenhagen, Denmark, where a debate on free speech in Europe was taking place. The debate was entitled “Art, Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression” and Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, who was under police protection, was in the cafe and scheduled to speak.

Vilks, a Swedish artist known for his provocative drawings of the Prophet Mohammed, has faced several attempted attacks and death threats after he depicted the Prophet as a dog in 2007.
As a result, he is guarded by police any time he visits Denmark. Some are speculating he was the intended target of the attack.
Sweden’s security police said Swedish bodyguards were with Vilks at the time of the shooting.

The French ambassador to Denmark, Francois Zimeray, was also attending the debate, and provided eyewitness reports of the attack.

“They fired on us from the outside. It was the same intention as [the 7 January attack on] Charlie Hebdo except they didn’t manage to get in,” Zimeray told AFP.

“Intuitively I would say there were at least 50 gunshots, and the police here are saying 200. Bullets went through the doors and everyone threw themselves to the floor,” the ambassador added.

“We managed to flee the room, and now we’re staying inside because it’s still dangerous. The attackers haven’t been caught and they could very well still be in the neighbourhood.”

Twitter captured other eyewitness statements.

the event we were at was protected by police. They were at the entrance of the building. as it is reported now, some of them were shot

— inna shevchenko (@femeninna) February 14, 2015

in the room with me there were few dozens of people, french ambassador Francois Zimeray, Lars Vilks

— inna shevchenko (@femeninna) February 14, 2015

I was at the point of ny speech when i was saying that often it is an illusion that we have freedom of speech in Europe.then we heard shots

— inna shevchenko (@femeninna) February 14, 2015

Danish police have no doubts that this was a terrorist attack.

MORE: Danish security service: Copenhagen shooting at free speech event was likely a terror attack: http://t.co/RHIiHY2WBI

— The Associated Press (@AP) February 14, 2015

There are two reported assailants, and their getaway car has been found.

Police said the two suspects drove away in a dark Volkswagen Polo after they sprayed the Krudttoenden cafe with some 30 bullets, killing a 40-year-old man. The shooting also slightly injured three police officers. The artist, Lars Vilks was not hurt, the Danish news network, thelocal.dk, said, citing media reports.

The TV2 channel reported later that police found the the car nearby. The car had been abandoned and there was no sign of the suspects.

Victory Girls will continue to follow the story and update as it develops.

UPDATE 7:23 PM EST
Another report of a shooting in central Copenhagen:

Danish Police say one person has been shot in the head at a synagogue in central #Copenhagen and two policemen have been injured by gunfire

— Sky News Newsdesk (@SkyNewsBreak) February 15, 2015

Danish Police: too early to say whether shooting at #Copenhagen synagogue is connected to earlier shooting at cafe in which one person died

— Sky News Newsdesk (@SkyNewsBreak) February 15, 2015

Three people are reportedly injured, including the person shot in the head.

We will be watching for further developments.

UPDATE 7:40 PM EST
https://twitter.com/JeanPeezy/status/566758423694680064
Reuters is reporting that the nearby metro and train station, Norreport, is being evacuated.

UPDATE 7:48 PM EST
Trying to corner the suspect, if they can.

BREAKING UPDATE: Police Believe the #Copenhagen synagogue gunman has fled into or near Norreport station, Station closed and evacuated.

— JL News Alert (@JLNewsAlert) February 15, 2015

Reports are now out that one victim has died in the synagogue shooting.

BREAKING UPDATE: The guard who was shot in the head at the synagogue in Copenhagen has died of his wounds. pic.twitter.com/S27oX7dtmk

— Breaking News (@NewsOnTheMin) February 15, 2015

We continue to watch for updates and confirmation.

UPDATE 8:27 PM EST
The manhunt is on.

More photos of heavily armed police in #Copenhagen tonight searching for shooterpic.twitter.com/h6xBoSEdZe

— Conflict News (@Conflicts) February 15, 2015

Residents of Copenhagen are being told to stay indoors.

Police urges everyone to go inside if they're in central #Copenhagen – it's not a safe place to be they say. #cphshooting

— Tinne Hjersing (@Tinnehjersing) February 15, 2015

UPDATE 8:45 PM EST
Danish police are now saying that they are only looking for ONE suspect in the cafe shooting, not two.

Eyewitness reports are claiming they heard a person “yelling in Arabic” at the cafe shooting.
It is unknown at this time if this same individual is the one involved in the synagogue shooting.

Also, the reported death of one victim is still not confirmed.

Important #Correction: The condition of the person shot in the head in the new #cphshooting is still unknown – NOT confirmed dead!

— Tinne Hjersing (@Tinnehjersing) February 15, 2015

UPDATE 9:19 PM EST
The BBC is reporting that all three injured in the synagogue shooting are police officers.

Also, there is about a two-mile distance between the two shooting locations.

To foreigners, here's a map of the #cphshooting. Green dot is Krudttønden. Red dot is the synagogue in Krystalgade. pic.twitter.com/vsoMxzWxDH

— Tinne Hjersing (@Tinnehjersing) February 15, 2015

Copenhagen is now effectively in lockdown.

UPDATE 10:06 PM EST
Danish police are giving an update and issuing corrections in a press conference.

#Copenhagen. 2 civilians now confirmed dead. All five injured are police officers.

— Lars H. Risager (@hulabandula) February 15, 2015

The second shooting victim has now been officially confirmed dead.

Three policemen were wounded in the first shooting, two policemen in the second shooting.

UPDATE 3:10 AM EST
Danish police say they have shot and killed the suspect they believe is responsible for both shootings.

Police killed the assumed perpetrator near a train station early Sunday after they put an address near the station under observation. The man opened fire on police causing them to fire back and killing the man. No officers were wounded during the incident, police said.

Danish police say they believe the man they shot dead in Copenhagen overnight was the gunman in two earlier attacks

— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) February 15, 2015

The victim at the synagogue has also been identified, though not by name.

Victim in Copenhagen Shooting Was Jewish Community Member Guarding Synagogue During Bat-Mitzva, with 80 people inside pic.twitter.com/dwcq2alUj5

— Israel News Feed (@IsraelHatzolah) February 15, 2015

Our prayers are with the families of the victims, and we will continue to update this story as more details emerge in the days to come.