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Gunman Aboard a Tram Kills at Least 3 in Utrecht, the Netherlands Utrecht Shooting Updates: Gunman Kills 3 on Tram
(32 minutes later)
Three people died and five were injured on Monday in a shooting on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht, which the authorities called a possible terrorist attack, and a manhunt was underway for a gunman who escaped the scene. • Three people were killed and five were injured on Monday when at least one gunman opened fire on a tram in Utrecht, in the Netherlands. The authorities called it a possible terrorist attack, and stepped up security at other sites in the Netherlands.
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. The Dutch paramilitary police increased security at airports and other vital infrastructure points. • A manhunt was underway for a Turkish-born man who the Utrecht Police said was “associated with the incident,” and the city’s mayor referred to him as a suspect. It was not clear how many people were involved.
By midafternoon there had been no arrests, but the Utrecht Police said they were looking for Gokmen Tanis, 37, who was born in Turkey, and posted a security camera image of him online. They did not call him a suspect, but said he was “associated with the incident” and warned people not to approach him. • The Netherlands has been spared the kind of large-scale terrorist attacks that have hit other Western European countries in recent years.
Unlike the police, the mayor of Utrecht, Jan van Zanen, referred to Mr. Tanis as a suspect. The local police and the national antiterrorism agency said they were looking into the possibility that the shooting, between 10:30 and 11 a.m., was an act of terrorism. Mark Rutte, the prime minister of the Netherlands, said it could not be ruled out.
“We are working on the assumption of a terrorist motive,” Mr. van Zanen said. “We think there is just one perpetrator, but we cannot exclude the possibility of there being several perpetrators.” The mayor of Utrecht, Jan van Zanen, was more definitive. “We are working on the assumption of a terrorist motive,” he said.
All the mosques in Utrecht were ordered evacuated, and security was increased at mosques elsewhere in the Netherlands. It was not clear whether those moves stemmed from any specific threat, or if they were a precaution in the wake of the attacks on mosques last week in Christchurch, New Zealand, that killed 50 people. 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 were sent to the scene, the Utrecht Police said on Twitter, and trams in the city were shut down while the authorities investigated the attacker and searched for those responsible. The authorities urged people to avoid the area to allow aid workers to reach the site of the attack at October 24 Square. Pieter Jaap Aalbersberg, the national coordinator for antiterrorism and security, said the authorities were debating whether to expand the threat alert to the country as a whole.
A gunman reportedly fled the scene after the attack, which took place around 10:45 a.m., and might have escaped in a car, The Associated Press reported. Heavily armed police officers assembled outside a building near the site of the attack, and residents were urged to stay indoors, although the police lifted that advisory a few hours later. The authorities ordered the evacuation of all mosques in Utrecht, and security was increased at mosques elsewhere in the Netherlands.
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 police continued to stress that they had not ruled out any possible motive, and warned of fake accounts used to spread disinformation. It was not clear whether those moves stemmed from any specific threat, or whether they were a precaution in the wake of the attacks on two mosques last week in Christchurch, New Zealand, that killed 50 people.
Utrecht, about 25 miles from Amsterdam, has a population of about 330,000, and has been a center of Dutch culture and commerce for a millennium. Utrecht University is the largest in the Netherlands, and the city has multiple museums, a medieval old town, canals and the headquarters of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands. The University Medical Center Utrecht opened a specialized disaster unit in response to the shooting. Mr. van Zanen, the mayor, said three of those injured were seriously hurt.
Jimmy de Koster, a witness, 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. Mr. Rutte interrupted a weekly cabinet meeting to monitor the situation, and later held a news conference to address it.
“Four men walked very fast toward her and tried to drag her away,” he said. More shots were then fired, he said, and the men left. By midafternoon there had been no arrests, despite a heavy police presence across the city.
The attack took place in the Kanaleneiland neighborhood in Utrecht, which is home to a large Muslim community, but it was not clear whether that influenced the decision of the gunman to open fire when and where he did. The Utrecht Police said they were looking for Gokmen Tanis, 37, who was born in Turkey, and posted a security camera image of him online. They did not call him a suspect but said he was “associated with the incident” and warned people not to approach him.
Unlike Britain, Belgium, France and Germany, the Netherlands had 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. Unlike the police, Mr. van Zanen, the mayor, referred to Mr. Tanis as a suspect.
Pieter Jaap Aalbersberg, the national coordinator for antiterrorism and security, said the terror alert was limited to Utrecht province and that the authorities were debating whether to expand it to the country as a whole. Local news media quoted witnesses who said there were multiple gunmen involved in the shooting, which took place at 24 October Square, but the police did not comment on the number of attackers.
The Netherlands has one of the lowest rates of private firearms ownership in Europe, according to international studies, about 2.6 per 100 people, compared to more than one per person in the United States. Its rate of gun homicide, about .2 to .3 per 100,000 people each year, is fairly typical for Europe, and far below the United States rate of about 4 per 100,000 people. “We think there is just one perpetrator, but we cannot exclude the possibility of there being several perpetrators,” Mr. van Zanen said.
A gunman reportedly fled the scene after the attack, and might have escaped in a car. Heavily armed police had assembled outside a building near the site of the attack.
The police were looking into the carjacking of a red Renault, which was stolen before the attack and then abandoned near the shooting scene. They did not say what connection it might have to the killings.
The Utrecht Police advised people to stay indoors, although that warning was later lifted, and the city’s tram network was shut down in response to the shooting.
The Netherlands has one of the lowest rates of private firearms ownership in Europe, according to international studies, about 2.6 per 100 people, compared to more than one per person in the United States. Its rate of gun homicide, about 0.2 to 0.3 per 100,000 people each year, is fairly typical for Europe, and far below the United States rate of about 4 per 100,000 people.
Utrecht, about 25 miles from Amsterdam, has been a center of Dutch culture and commerce for a millennium. Utrecht University is the largest in the Netherlands, and the city has multiple museums, a medieval old town, canals and the headquarters of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands.
More than 30 percent of the city’s population of about 330,000 is foreign-born, according to the Dutch census.
The attack took place in the Kanaleneiland neighborhood, which is home to a large Muslim community, largely Moroccan and Turkish. It was not clear whether that influenced the decision of the gunman to open fire when and where he did.