Gunman Attacks Tram Passengers in Utrecht, Dutch Police Say

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/18/world/europe/utrecht-shooting-netherlands.html

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A shooting attack on Monday in the Dutch city of Utrecht that left several people injured was being investigated as a possible case of terrorism, the authorities said.

The Netherlands’ main counterterrorism agency raised its assessment of the threat in Utrecht province, just southeast of Amsterdam, to the highest level, and said it had activated a crisis team.

Trauma helicopters have been sent to the scene, the Utrecht police said on Twitter, and trams in the city have been shut down while the authorities investigate.

There were no confirmed fatalities, but photographs taken by witnesses and shared on social media appeared to show a body covered by a white cloth on the ground near the stopped tram.

Local media reported that a gunman fled the scene after the attack, which took place around 10:45 a.m., and might have escaped in a car.

The University Medical Center Utrecht opened a specialized disaster unit in response to the shooting.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte interrupted a weekly cabinet meeting to monitor the situation, several news outlets reported.

The authorities were urging people to avoid the area to allow aid workers to reach the site of the attack at October 24 Square.

Utrecht, about 25 miles from Amsterdam, has a population of about 330,000.

Jimmy de Koster told the television station RTV Utrecht that he was at the square, heard gunfire and saw a young woman, apparently wounded, lying on the ground.

“Four men walked very fast toward her and tried to drag her away,” he said. More shots were then fired, he said.

Unlike Britain, Belgium, France and Germany, the Netherlands has not had a major terrorist attack in recent years. But the Dutch police said in September that they had foiled “very advanced” plans for a coordinated series of attacks, arresting seven men and seizing guns and bomb-making materials.