Elias Fredlin Skriver, a 30-year-old man, has been sentenced to life in prison for the fatal shooting of a 43-year-old man and the wounding of a woman in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, on August 8, 2024. The Copenhagen City Court handed down the sentence on Thursday.

Skriver confessed to the crime and has accepted the sentence, according to his defense attorney, Rune Wiborg. He sat silently, staring into space, as the sentence was read.

The judge referenced a 2022 Supreme Court ruling, emphasizing that the shooting occurred in a public place during daylight hours and that a random passerby woman was injured.

Skriver claimed he had a significant drug debt and was forced by unnamed individuals to commit the act. He testified that he was threatened with harm to his family if he refused.

Driven by this threat, Skriver traveled from Jutland to Copenhagen in early August 2024. He retrieved an electric bicycle from a Copenhagen park, where a revolver had been placed in the bicycle basket.

He stated that he was instructed to shoot at individuals in known gang areas of Nørrebro, but was not given a specific target. “I was supposed to shoot someone who looked like they were in a gang,” he said.

The 43-year-old victim had previously committed murder himself. The woman who was injured was a completely random passerby; Skriver said he didn’t immediately realize he had hit her.

“I had the revolver in the bicycle basket. I shot once or twice, and then I ran away,” Skriver stated. “It’s a blurry day. I only found out when I got home that I had also hit a woman.” He concluded, “What I have done is unforgivable. If I could do it over, I would, but I can’t.”