Update 2:10 p.m. Eastern: Police confirm that the main suspect — whose photo they earlier released — has been taken into custody.
The suspect of the shooting at the #24oktoberplein was arrested at the Oudenoord in Utrecht. Earlier the police published information and a photo of this same person.
— Politie Utrecht (@PolitieUtrecht) March 18, 2019
Update 2:05 p.m. Eastern: Media reports are confirming that the man police took into custody is indeed Gökman Tanis.
JUST IN: Dutch authorities say they have caught the man suspected of opening fire on a tram in Utrecht, killing three people this morning.
Follow live updates: https://t.co/nLibdNLwyj
— CNN (@CNN) March 18, 2019
Update 1:50 p.m. Eastern: Eyewitnesses said the man or men involved in the attack shouted, “Allahu Akbar!” the Dutch site Het Parool reported.
Netherlands: Eyewitnesses say four men carried out Utrecht jihad massacre, screamed “Allahu akbar” https://t.co/m89EKPODtw
— Robert Spencer روبرت سبنسر (@jihadwatchRS) March 18, 2019
Update 1:45 p.m. Eastern: Dutch police report that they’ve arrested a man suspected to have been involved in the attack. No word as to whether or not this is Gökman Tanis.
Twitter screenshot from the Utrecht Police.
Original story:
Police are searching for a suspect who reportedly opened fire inside a tram and at several other locations in Utrecht, Netherlands.
According to Financial Times, three people have been killed and five more injured. Police initially said nine were injured, but reduced the number to five on Monday afternoon.
Police are searching for 37-year-old Turkish man Gökman Tanis. They released a photo of the suspect on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/PolitieUtrecht/status/1107636046685188096
Schools have closed and security has been increased while counter-terrorism police search for the gunman, the BBC reported.
“We cannot exclude a terrorist motive,” Dutch anti-terrorism co-ordinator Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg said at a news conference on Monday.
The attack took place at about 10:45 local time (09:45 GMT). One witness told local media that “a man started shooting wildly.”
Another witness said he helped an injured woman after the tram came to a stop. “I looked behind me and saw someone lying there behind the tram,” the witness told Dutch public broadcaster NOS. “People got out of their cars… and they started to lift her up.”
“I helped to pull her out and then I saw a gunman run towards us, with his gun raised,” he added. “I heard people yell ‘Shooter! Shooter!’ and I started to run.”
Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the country had been “jolted by an attack”, which he described as “deeply disturbing”.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
Follow Tyler O’Neil, the author of this article, on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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