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.