Danish Gunman's Suspected Helpers to Stay in Custody

Five men charged with helping the gunman behind last month's deadly attacks in Copenhagen have been remanded in custody for another four weeks, police said on Thursday.

"The five suspects in connection with the shootings... will remain in custody," Copenhagen police wrote on Twitter.

Custody hearings held for the five, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were not open to the public.

Two men, aged 25 and 30, on Friday faced preliminary charges of helping gunman Omar El-Hussein get rid of an M95 assault rifle he used outside a cultural center hosting a debate on free speech and Islam, where he shot dead a filmmaker on February 14.

They were also charged with helping him get rid of clothing after the attack, and for providing "other equipment" for the shooting that took place a few hours later outside a synagogue, where a Jewish man was killed.

Two other men, aged 20 and 22, have been detained since February 16, also on suspicion of helping him get rid of the M95 weapon and of supplying him with two firearms used at the synagogue.

All four are believed to have ties to the criminal gang El-Hussein was linked to.

A fifth man, aged 18, was detained on February 27 and is suspected of providing the gunman with a bulletproof vest and a knife.

Copenhagen police on Wednesday searched several apartments in the inner city district where El-Hussein lived, but declined to say if the operation was part of an ongoing investigation into the attacks.