Danish police have arrested two men for allegedly aiding the gunman who killed two people and injured five police officers in two separate incidents in Copenhagen over the weekend.

The two men, who have not been named, are accused of providing the gunman, named by Danish media as 22-year-old Omar El-Hussein, with the firearm he used in the two attacks, and disposing of the weapon afterwards.

The two men, who both deny the charges, appeared in a closed custody hearing on Monday.

Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said the attacker, who was shot dead by police after opening fire on them as they moved to arrest him on Sunday, was not part of a terror cell. At a press conference, she said:

“He was known by the police for several criminal acts, including severe violence, and he was also known to be linked to a criminal gang in Copenhagen.

“But I want to also make very clear that we have no indication at this stage that he was part of a cell.”

Omar El-Hussein was released from prison two weeks before the attacks after serving two years for grievous bodily harm.

Previously, Jens Madsen, head of the Danish intelligence agency PET, said that the attacker had been on the agency’s radar for some time, and the security services were working to determine if he had any links to groups in Iraq or Syria. He said that police and intelligence services are working under the assumption that he may have been inspired by the attacks on the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket in Paris last month.