MANHUNT FOR TURK

Gunman opens fire on a tram in Holland, wounding several people

By Sara Malm For Mailonline

Published: 06:34 EDT, 18 March 2019 | Updated: 11:59 EDT, 18 March 2019

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The 37-year-old Turkish man accused of being behind the deadly ‘terrorist-motivated’ shooting on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht had a lengthy criminal record, according to local media.

Gökmen Tanis, 37, is still on the run after this morning’s shooting, which left three people dead and five others injured, and saw the terrorism threat level in Utrecht raised to the highest possible.

Earlier today, Dutch police tweeted a photograph of Tanis, believed to have been captured on the tram’s CCTV just four minutes before the incident at 10.45am this morning, and urged the public to ‘look out for him but do not approach.’

Local newspaper Algemeen Dagblad reports that Tanis had been due in court on March 4 in connection with a rape case, accused of sexually assaulting his victim several times, and threatening to burn down her home.

In 2013, he was suspected of attempted manslaughter by ‘opening fire on a flat’, and in recent years had been accused of committing burglary, shoplifting, drink-driving and assaulting a police officer by spitting them in the face.

This photo, released by Utrecht police, shows Turkish-born Gökman Tanis, 37, on the tram’s CCTV just minutes before the shooting began at 10.45am this morning

Tanis is seen on the tram just a few minutes before one person was left dead and several others wounded from gunfire

Incident: Emergency services have cordoned off a tram in Utrecht, Holland, where one or several assailants opened fire on commuters at around 10.45 local time today

The gunman, believed to be Tanis, fled the scene of the shooting in a stolen red Renault Clio, which has since been found abandoned in Utrecht, Holland’s fourth largest city with a population of around 340,000.

Police in Utrecht had initially reported the number of wounded as nine, this was however reduced to five in a tweet on Monday afternoon, which did not give a reason for changing the number.

Heavily armed police have been gathered in front of an apartment block some 200 yards from the scene for several hours, however have reportedly yet to raid the building.

Footage from outside the building show officers preparing specially trained dogs and deploying a robot as they seemingly get ready to move in on the apartment block.

Advice to all citizens in Utrecht to remain indoors, was lifted at 4.30pm local time by the city’s mayor, however the terrorism threat level in the province remains at the highest possible.

It is not known if the previous instructions to schools in Utrecht to keep their doors closed had been lifted, although train traffic has now reportedly resumed.

Video and photos from Utrecht shows armed anti-terrorism police surrounding a building where the gunman, or potentially several gunmen, is believed to be located

Several photographs show armed police officers surrounding a building in Utrecht just hours after the assailant fled the scene

Special Police Forces inspect the tram where the shooting took place earlier on Monday as the perpetrator remains at large

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The head of the Dutch counter-terrorism agency Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg said in a statement that the ‘threat level has gone to 5, exclusively for the Utrecht province,’ referring to the highest level, adding that the shooting ‘appears to be a terrorist attack’.

‘The culprit is still on the run. A terror motive cannot be excluded,’ he said in a Twitter message. He called on citizens to closely follow the indications of the local police.

Armed police have remained outside the apartment block near the scene of this morning’s shooting for several hours, with photos showing officers preparing specially trained dogs and deploying a robot as they seemingly get ready to move in on the building.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte convened crisis talks, saying he was deeply concerned about the incident, which came three days after a lone gunman killed 50 people in mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand.

Mr Rutte said: ‘Our nation was hit by an attack in Utrecht. It is clear there were shots on tram passengers in Utrecht, that there are wounded.’

He said that ‘a terror motive is not excluded’, and added that throughout the nation ‘there is a mix of disbelief and disgust’.

‘If it is a terror attack then we have only one answer: our nation, democracy must be stronger that fanaticism and violence.’

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Armed anti-terrorism police surround building in Utrecht

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Dutch counter terrorism police use a robot as they prepare to enter an apartment block after a shooting incident in Utrecht, Netherlands, just a few hundred yards from the scene of the attack

Safety first: The black labrador

Reporting for duty: The black labrador and the police officer are seen outside the apartment block on Monday afternoon after gearing up

A photo shared on social media shows an armed policeman surrounding a building in Utrecht during the manhunt

Video footage shows police surrounding an apartment block in Utrecht a few hours after the shooting took place

Dutch military police have been ordered to be on ‘extra alert’ at Dutch airports and ‘vital buildings’ due to the ongoing police manhunt.

Police spokesman Bernhard Jens said no one had been detained yet in the shooting, and one possible ‘explanation is that the person fled by car.’  He did not rule out the possibility that more than one shooter was involved in the attack.

‘We want to try to catch the person responsible as soon as possible,’ Jens said.

The first casualty was reported by the Dutch ANP news agency, which stated that the victim was completely covered with a sheet and lying on the tracks between two carriages.

Armed police surround building following shooting in Utrecht

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Armed anti-terrorism police surround building in Utrecht

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Video footage filmed just hours after the shooting shows heavily armed anti-terror officers in front of an apartment block some 200 yards from the scene the shooting

Dozens of heavily armed police officers were seen near the building, but there has been no official reports of an arrest

Dutch police said they are searching for the shooter ‘with all possible means’, and have not ruled out multiple assailants

All tram traffic in the city has been shut down in the wake of the shooting on a tram, pictured, this morning

Emergency services stand at the 24 Oktoberplein in Utrecht, the Netherlands, where the shooting took place

Police could me seen amassing some 200 yards from the site of a shooting in Utrecht, Netherlands

One witness told NOS News they had seen an injured person running out of the tram with blood on her hands and clothes who then fell to the ground.

‘I brought her into my car and helped her. When the police arrived, she was unconscious,’ the witness, who was not named, told the broadcaster.

Local resident Jimmy De Koster also witnessed the incident and told De Telegraaf: ‘I was standing at the traffic lights on 24 Oktoberplein and I saw a woman lying down, I think she would have been between 20 and 35 years old.

‘She shouted ‘I didn’t do anything’.’

The Utrecht police said a square at a tram station outside the city centre had been cordoned off as emergency services attend the scene.

Armed police at the scene where a shooting took place, as police say they are considering a terrorist motive

Ambulances are seen next to the tram where the shooting took place on Monday morning, at around 10.45am local time

The Dutch anti-terror coordinator has raised the threat alert to its highest level around the central Dutch town of Utrecht following the shooting incident on a tram in the city, with the shooter still on the run

Officials added that trauma helicopters were sent to the incident at 24 Oktoberplein, and they are appealing to the public to stay away to allow first responders to do their work.

They had no further details about the incident and could not say how badly hurt the victims were, or how many had been injured.

‘Several shots were fired in a tram and several people were injured. Helicopters are at the scene and no arrests have been made,’ said police spokesman Joost Lanshage.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called the situation ‘very worrying’ and the country’s counterterror coordinator said in a tweet that a crisis team was meeting to discuss the situation.

Utrecht is located about 25 miles south of Amsterdam in central Holland.

Dutch military police have been put on extra alert at Dutch airports and at key buildings across the country, including in Amsterdam and The Hague, as the Utrecht manhunt is taking place.

Emergency services attend the scene of a shooting in Utrecht, where at least one person is reported to have died

Police forces and emergency services stand at the 24 Oktoberplein as local media reported that counter-terrorism police was present at the scene

Members of the military police arrive to heighten security around the Binnenhof in The Hague, as security was increased at key sites across The Netherlands in the wake of the shooting

Hugely concerning news of a gunman opening fire on a tram in Utrecht, no doubt with innocent people just getting on with their day. We are in contact with Dutch authorities, urgently seeking further information. The UK stands with the people of the Netherlands

German police say they have upped surveillance on the country’s border with the Netherlands and are on the lookout for the gunman believed to be responsible for the Utrecht shooting.

Heinrich Onstein, a spokesman for the federal police in the border state of North Rhine-Westphalia, said additional police had been added to watch not only major highways, but also minor crossings as well as railway routes.

He says the federal police are in close contact with authorities in the Netherlands and have a description of the suspect.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt tweeted his concern in the wake of the incident, saying the UK ‘stands with the people of the Netherlands’.

‘Hugely concerning news of a gunman opening fire on a tram in Utrecht, no doubt with innocent people just getting on with their day,’ Mr Hunt wrote.

‘We are in contact with Dutch authorities, urgently seeking further information. The UK stands with the people of the Netherlands ‘

All major political parties including Rutte’s VVD announced that they were suspending campaigning ahead of Wednesday’s local elections which will determine the make-up of the Dutch senate.

The Netherlands has been largely spared the kind of attacks which have rocked its closest European neighbours in the past few years, but there has been a series of recent scares.

In August, a 19-year-old Afghan with a German residence permit stabbed and injured two American tourists at Amsterdam’s busy Central Station before being shot and wounded.

In September, Dutch investigators said they had arrested seven people and foiled a ‘major attack’ on civilians at a major event in the Netherlands.

They said they had found a large quantity of bomb-making materials including fertiliser likely to be used in a car bomb. The men were arrested in the cities of Arnhem and Weert.

In June, two terror suspects were arrested while close to carrying out attacks including at an iconic bridge in Rotterdam and in France, prosecutors said.

The men aged 22 and 28, who were of Moroccan origin, made a film at the Erasmus bridge in which they sang a martyrdom song, they said.

The world is becoming a scary place nowadays

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• url: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6821647/gunman-opens-fire-tram-holland-wounding-people.html
• captured: 3/18/2019 4:00:03 PM UTC
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