Some 5,000 Danes yesterday attended a memorial ceremony for the police officer Jesper Jul, who was shot in the head and killed by a mentally-unstable, young man last week on Tuesday.
Jul was the first police officer to be killed on duty in Denmark since 1995, and the 15th since the end of World War II. He was 43 years old.
The memorial was held outside the police station in Albertslund – one of Copenhagen’s western suburbs – where the shooting incident took place.
READ MORE: Danish policeman shot in the head dies in hospital
Showing support
“My world has come to a halt. No words can describe what’s been taken from me,” said the deceased officer’s fiancee at the ceremony.
“Jesper was such a great person in so many ways. But after his death, I have found out how much he really meant to people – not only to me but to so many. And no-one will ever be able to replace him.”
Thousands of Danes came to the memorial with torches to show support for the officer’s family and friends.
“I have come to show support and underline that the police and anyone else in uniform should be able to go to work without fear and know they will come back home again,” Brian Lodahl, one of the attendees, told Metroxpress.
At the end of the memorial, a local gospel choir sang the classic Leonard Cohen song ‘Hallelujah’.
