COPENHAGEN, Denmark (WJC) — Crowds of mourners turned out for the funeral of the Jewish man killed in the Copenhagen shooting spree, as questions mounted about whether more could have been done to prevent the attacks, Agence France Presse reported. Dan Uzan, a 37-year-old volunteer security guard, was killed outside Copenhagen’s main synagogue in the second of two weekend shootings that sent jitters across Europe.
Security was tight as hundreds of people gathered at a Jewish cemetery in Copenhagen for Uzan’s funeral, with police out in force along with sniffer dogs and snipers posted on nearby rooftops.
“Everybody in our community knew Dan,” Dan Rosenberg Asmussen, the head of the Danish Jewish community, told AFP. “He was always ready to his part, he was a very fine example for the whole community.”
Denmark’s chief rabbi said Uzan was an “irreplaceable” security guard protecting the city’s Jewish community. Rabbi Jair Melchior told Associated Press: “He was a person who was always willing to help. An amazing, amazing guy.”
There are an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 Jews in Denmark, including about 2,000 active members of the Jewish community, which operates its own security patrol that coordinates with police to protect Jewish institutions.
The community had previously asked police for enhanced security, and following last month’s attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris, Denmark police began reevaluating security arrangements.
In neighboring Sweden, where Jewish institutions were on lockdown for two days following the Copenhagen terror attacks, security has also been enhanced. Police officers guarding Jewish buildings in Sweden should carry automatic rifles, according to new directives.
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Here is a link to a tribute and condolence page for Uzan: http://danuzan.com/
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Preceding provided by the World Jewish Congress