Two police officers, one civilian shot in famous Danish hippie commune

Two police officers were injured – one critically – after gunfire erupted in a self-proclaimed autonomous hippie commune in Denmark.
Police say one officer was hit in the head and another in the leg as they were doing “routine work” in Christiania, an area of Copenhagen where cannabis is sold in open-air markets along a drug-dealing route called “Pusher Street.”
A civilian, who is not from Denmark, was shot in the leg during the spate of gunfire, Copenhagen Police said via Twitter.
Speaking from the Copenhagen Police Headquarters early Thursday, police commissioner Thorkild Bailiff told reporters the officer who was shot in the head suffered “serious” injuries.

“Our thoughts are with the family,” Bailiff said.

This suspect, estimated to be 25-years-old, is being sought in the police shooting.
(Copenhagen Police)

Cops released a photo of an unidentified suspect, who they said is well-known to authorities.
The man is described as a 5’8’’ male in his mid-20s connected to Christiania's hash trade. Cops raided the weed-loving commune at least five times overnight and arrested a friend of the suspect, Bailiff said.
“This here should be a wakeup call to police,” Bailiff said. “Now the criminals have really taken over. Now the criminals have to be forced out.”

Christiania, established in 1971 by a group of squatters in abandoned military barracks, has become a major tourist hub.

Authorities in Copenhagen are searching for a suspect after two police officers and at least one civilian were wounded by gunfire.
(@Trilsoe via Twitter)

Its roughly 850 residents have declared themselves independent of Denmark’s laws, though they have set up rules against photographs, weapons and any violence.
However, the fact that marijuana is openly traded in the streets has created a steady stream of criminal activity, and authorities have in recent years begun a process of trying to “normalize” the area.
In June cops brought down 37 weed stalls, arrested 18 people and seized 1,000 pre-rolled joints, according to The Local, though weed sales reportedly started up again as soon as police left the area.