Police have not ruled out the possibility that the man hit by gunfire Saturday night may be the latest victim of gang-related shootings in Copenhagen.
"To our knowledge, the victim is a father who was shot while driving through the neighbourhood with two child seats in his car," Kim Madsen of the Copenhagen Vestegn Police told the tabloid Ekstra Bladet. "Our theory is that it was an innocent family man who was shot."
The man told police that a van pulled up in front of him and someone jumped out and opened fire at his car, hitting him in the arm.
Madsen said that police are looking for a green or blue van.
"The victim said it may have been a Peugeot Partner or Volkswagen Sharan," said Madsen. "It is either blue or green with white lettering on the side reading 'Forsyning'." The description of the van is the strongest lead that police have in the case.
The vehicles used in several recent gang-related shootings were burned after those incidents, but police have no reports of any burned-out light commercial vehicles at this time.
"These types of cases are hard, because they happen so quickly," said Madsen. "They are over in a few seconds, so we need to talk to those who may have seen or heard anything."
Madsen would not confirm that the shooting was gang-related, but it comes immediately following a rash of shootings in neighbourhoods around the city last week, including Værebro, so he also would not rule out the possibility.
"It is speculation, but it may also be correct," he said.
Last week, more than 100 officers carried out large-scale anti-gang operations across the city, including Værebro. During those actions, 39 people were arrested and 23 firearms – including machine guns – were seized.
The police actions followed an outbreak of gang violence in Skovlunde, Høje Gladsaxe, Værebro and other neighbourhoods.
Last Wednesday, six shots were fired at someone out walking their dog. Later that same evening, a 30-year-old man was stabbed several times with a knife in a parking lot in Ballerup. The man died Friday afternoon at Rigshospitalet.
