Bio of Copenhagen Gunman Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein

omar-abdel-hamid-el-hussein
Reuters/Danish Police handout/Scanpix Denmark

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — NAME: Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein

AGE: 22

BORN: Sept. 11, 1992, in Denmark.

RAISED: In the Copenhagen area to Palestinian parents (now divorced) and a younger brother. Spent three years in Jordan.

SCHOOL: Attended VUC vocational school in Copenhagen suburb of Hvidovre. Headmaster Peter Zinkernagel told Danmarks Radio “he was a very skilled and clever student who did well,” but was expelled after being charged with stabbing a train passenger in November 2013.

CRIMINAL RECORD: Convicted in December 2014 of aggravated assault in the stabbing, sentenced to time served. Also had previous convictions on violence and weapons charges.

HOBBY: Martial arts at the Copenhagen Muay Thai boxing club. Fellow boxer Jacob Dyngbo Paaske, who filmed el-Hussein fighting bouts, says el-Hussein was “a silent type” and “very intense when he fought.”

NICKNAME: “Little Hussein from the Square,” an ironic reference to his 6-foot, 2-inch (188-centimeter) height and Blaagaardsplads, a square in the Noerrebro district that was a hangout for a gang of immigrant boys who turned criminal, according to a source with knowledge of the criminal gang environment in Copenhagen.

GANG: Loosely connected to Blood and Brothers, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss ongoing police investigations.

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