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.