Suspect still at large after three killed in Utrecht shooting

Published Mar 18, 2019

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Utrecht, Netherlands - Police in Utrecht are searching for a

37-year-old Turkish-born man following a shooting in the central

Dutch city that killed three people, according to the city's mayor.

Mayor Jan van Zanen said in a video message that three people had

been killed. Authorities said five people were injured, correcting

down from earlier reports that said nine people had been hurt.

Police released an image showing the suspect in the tram where the

shooting took place and named him as Gokmen Tanis.

He should not be approached, police warned.

Authorities are investigating whether the motive for the shooting had

been personal, or if there was a terrorist background.

"It could also have been a relationship crime," police spokesman

Bernard Jens told Dutch radio broadcaster NOS.

Shots were fired in the tram on 24 Oktoberplein, a junction in the

west of the city. Emergency services tweeted that the shooting took

place at 10:45 am (0945 GMT).

An eyewitness told NOS that the gunman seemed to have targeted one

woman in particular. The woman had been on the ground, and people

were assisting her, said Daan Molenaar.

Molenaar said that he saw an armed man running towards the group. "It

looked as if he wanted to attack her again, or maybe the people who

helped her," he said.

Authorities raised the terrorism alert level for the province of

Utrecht to level 5.

Van Zanen said that authorities were looking into a terrorist motive.

He did not rule out that there had been more than one attacker.

Local authorities lifted a curfew after several hours. They had

warned residents not to venture outside after the shooting.

Police blocked a road not far from 24 Oktoberplein. Investigators

also found a stolen red car they believe the suspect used to flee the

scene.

Police denied initial reports that shots had been fired in several

locations.

In a first press conference, Prime Minister Mark Rutte described the

incident as "attack" and did not rule out terrorism as a motive.

The country has been shaken by an attack, he said. "Innocent people

were hit by violence." Authorities would do everything in their power

to catch the person or persons responsible, he said.

Geert Wilders, a leading Dutch right-wing politician, called the

shooting an act of terrorism. It had been "a terrorist attack with

innocent victims," he told Dutch TV.

dpa

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