Copenhegan shooting
Damaged glass is seen at the site of a shooting in Copenhagen Mathias OEgendal/Scanpix/Reuters

Danish police have confirmed that one person died following the shooting at a debate about free speech in Copenhagen.

Three police officers were also wounded.

The attack took place shortly before 4pm (3pm GMT) this afternoon.

François Zimeray, the French ambassador to the Denmark, was speaking at the debate. The controversial Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks was also present. In 2007, Vilks drew caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed dressed as a dog.

In 2007, Vilks drew caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed dressed as a dog, which inspired terrorist attacks in Europe by Islamic extremists.

Unconfirmed reports after today's shooting stated Danish police believed the shooting was an attempted assassination attack on Vilks. Vilks has been threatened with assassination before.

Witnesses report that up to 40 shots fired outside the venue.

Soon after the attack a tweet from Zimeray stated he was safe.

Zimeray gave a more detailed account to the AFP news agency later: "They fired on us from the outside. It was the same intention as (the January 7 attack on) Charlie Hebdo except they didn't manage to get in.

"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. We managed to flee the room, and now we're staying inside because it's still dangerous."

Vilks is also believed to be uninjured.

The area around the venue – a cafe – has been cordoned off and police are searching a nearby park.

The two alleged attackers were said to be clad in black and did not speak Danish.

One witness, Jesper Frimand Christensen, sought shelter behind the cafe's bar in the cafe. He says that the men shouted something in a language he did not understand. Other eye witnesses are claiming that the language was Arabic.

Police report that the suspects fled in a dark VW Polo with the registration number AT 25919. They advise anyone seeing the car not to approach it and to contact them immediately.

They advise anyone seeing the car not to approach it and to contact them immediately.

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