Netherlands: three dead in shooting in Rotterdam, suspect arrested

Three people were killed, a 14-year-old girl, her mother and a teacher, Thursday September 28 after a 32-year-old man shot at a house then a hospital in Rotterdam, southwest of the Netherlands, Dutch police said.

According to a police press release, the suspect was arrested by the police, it would bea 32-year-old man and would be a resident of Rotterdam. The police do not consider the existence of a second shooter, according to the same press release published on The accommodation would then have been fireaccording to the Dutch press.

Elite police units raided the Dutch city’s hospital in search of the suspect, carrying a handgun, authorities said. THE motive for attack remains unknownsaid the local news agency ANP, citing the police.

Footage at the scene showed people leaving the hospital, including doctors and patients, as police in bulletproof vests entered. Police helicopters flew overhead. Doctors in white coats carried patients on stretchers and wheelchairs.

Regular shootouts between rival gangs

Police earlier said the suspect was wearing “combat” clothing, was tall, with dark hair and was carrying a backpack.
“There was first a shooting on the fourth floor. Four or five shots were fired. Then a Molotov cocktail was thrown in the educational center,” said a medical student quoted by a local television channel without giving his name.

“There was a lot of panic and screaming… I didn’t hear any shots, just panic,” said another eyewitness, quoted by public broadcaster NOS.

Rotterdam is often the scene of shootings generally attributed to score-settling between rival drug gangs. Authorities are expected to hold a press conference soon to provide more details. In 2019, three people were shot dead on a tram in Utrecht, sparking a massive manhunt. In 2011, the country was shocked when 24-year-old Tristan van der Vlis killed six people and injured 10 others in a crowded shopping mall.