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Utrecht tram shooting: three dead as police hunt gunman Utrecht tram shooting: three dead as police hunt gunman
(about 1 hour later)
Armed police were searching multiple buildings in the Dutch city of Utrecht on Monday after a possible terrorist shooting on a tram left at least three people dead and nine injured, some seriously. Armed police are searching multiple buildings in the Dutch city of Utrecht after a shooting on a tram left at least three people dead and five injured, some seriously.
“A terrorist motive cannot be excluded” in the incident, which happened at about 10.45am at a tram stop on the city’s central 24 Oktoberplein junction, a police spokesman, Bernhard Jens, told reporters at the scene. The incident happened at about 10.45am on Monday at a tram stop on the city’s central 24 Oktoberplein junction, a police spokesman, Bernhard Jens, told reporters at the scene.
The mayor of Utrecht, Jan van Zanen, said in a video statement at least three people had died in the attack and nine more were wounded, three of them seriously. Van Zanen said police “are not ruling out – in fact, we are assuming” a terrorist motive. “A terrorist motive cannot be excluded,” Jens said, but later added that police were “far from 100% sure” about the reason for the attack. “It could still be a domestic dispute,” he said. “We will wait for the investigation before we say more.”
He said authorities were searching for “definitely one” suspect, who had been identified, but that there may be more, and asked all residents to stay at home for the time being to facilitate the work of the police. The mayor of Utrecht, Jan van Zanen, said in a video statement at least three people had died in the attack and nine more were wounded, three of them seriously. Police later revised the total down.
Utrecht police issued a CCTV picture of the suspect, whom they named as Turkish-born Gökmen Tanis, aged 37, and warned people not to approach him themselves but to alert the authorities if they saw him. They also appealed for witness photographs. Van Zanen said authorities were searching for “definitely one” suspect, who had been identified, but that there may be more, and asked all residents to stay at home. That advice was later lifted.
The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, said all efforts were focused on catching the “suspect or suspects” but did not repeat suggestions of a terrorist motive. Utrecht police issued a CCTV picture of the suspect, named as Turkish-born Gökmen Tanis, 37, and warned people not to approach him but to alert the authorities if they saw him. They also appealed for witness photographs.
“Our country today has been jolted by an attack in Utrecht,” he said. “Police and prosecutors are looking into what exactly happened. The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, said all efforts were focused on catching the “suspect or suspects … Our country today has been jolted by an attack in Utrecht,” he said. “Police and prosecutors are looking into what exactly happened.”
A local broadcaster, RTV Utrecht, quoted a witness named as Jimmy de Koster as saying several shots had been fired. De Koster said he was on his way home from work when he saw a woman lying on the ground next to a tram, shouting: “I have done nothing.”
Another witness, identified only as Niels, who was in the tram, told the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper that the gunman seemed to target one person. “I heard like a bang-bang-bang in the carriage behind me, and suddenly people were running out, for their lives,” the witness said.
“I had the impression he was firing at one person in particular, because I saw a women crawl out. Other people tried to help her, and when they did that, he went round behind her and began firing at them.”
Several Dutch media outlets reported that the suspect had appeared in court in Utrecht on 4 March charged with rape. RTV Utrecht said Tanis was well known to the police for a string of further offences, including threatening to murder a woman and firing a weapon at an apartment block close to the Oktoberplein.
The national terrorism coordinator told a press conference that a “complex operation” was under way to apprehend what police believed was a single suspect. “Every effort was now being focused” on apprehending the man, Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg said.The national terrorism coordinator told a press conference that a “complex operation” was under way to apprehend what police believed was a single suspect. “Every effort was now being focused” on apprehending the man, Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg said.
Aalbersberg raised the alert level in Utrecht province to its maximum after the incident. Local schools and colleges were ordered to keep their doors closed until further notice and security was increased in the nearby cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague as well as at Schiphol airport.Aalbersberg raised the alert level in Utrecht province to its maximum after the incident. Local schools and colleges were ordered to keep their doors closed until further notice and security was increased in the nearby cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague as well as at Schiphol airport.
The local council advised all Utrecht’s residents to stay indoors if at all possible as the scene of the shooting remained cordoned off and a police anti-terrorism units carried out searches in multiple buildings and apartment blocks in the area. Unlike France, Belgium and Germany, the Netherlands has not suffered a major terror attack in the past few years.
“Several shots were fired in a tram and several people were injured,” a Utrecht police spokesman, Joost Lanshage, said earlier. “Helicopters are at the scene but no arrests have been made.”“Several shots were fired in a tram and several people were injured,” a Utrecht police spokesman, Joost Lanshage, said earlier. “Helicopters are at the scene but no arrests have been made.”
A local broadcaster, RTV Utrecht, quoted a witness named as Jimmy de Koster as saying several shots had been fired. De Koster said he was on his way home from work when he saw a woman lying on the ground next to a tram, shouting: “I have done nothing.” The wounded were taken to Utrecht’s main teaching hospital, where a major incident was declared. Dutch media reported that at least three of the victims had received emergency treatment at the scene.
He said he then heard three shots and saw four men “running fast towards the woman and trying to drag her away”. More gunshots followed and the men ran off, he said, adding: “It was complete and utter chaos.” There were initial reports of shootings in other areas of the city but these were subsequently discounted by police. Police said a red Renault Clio had been stolen near the Oktoberplein square where the attack took place shortly beforehand, and was later found abandoned further to the north.
The Algemeen Dagblad newspaper reported that the wounded were taken to Utrecht’s main teaching hospital, where a major incident was declared. The newspaper said at least three of the victims had received emergency treatment at the scene.
There were initial reports of shootings in other areas of the city but these were subsequently discounted by police. Police said a red Renault Clio had been stolen near the square where the attack took place shortly beforehand and later found abandoned elsewhere in the city.
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