Swedish artist Lars Vilks says it was 'likely he was the target' of shooting at Copenhagen cafe

Controversial Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks has told ITV News he believes he was the main target of an attack on a cafe in Copenhagen yesterday.

The artist said: "I'm more interesting as a target the more known I am and when you're in the media you can be even more of a symbolic target and that is how things work."

Explaining that he would be going on with "life as usual" after the attack, the artist - who sprung to notoriety after producing drawings of the prophet Mohammed, including one as a dog - said the whole experience had been "unreal".

"When things do happen it becomes so unreal - in a way its so strange, you can't really imagine that such a thing could happen."

Listen to Vilks talking about the attack here:

Vilks, who has been the target of previous death threats and physical attacks, was in a cafe in the Østerbro district of Denmark's capital when a gunman shot through the venue's glass window killing one man yesterday.

Admitting he was scared to begin with but quickly reassured by the professional bodyguards that rushed him to the safety of a storage room and protected him, the artist described the moment he heard gunshots.

He said: "There is an entrance room with glass window[s] and doors and then there is this lecture room inside where there is a wall and there is a door and there's no windows, so you have no connection visually."