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A 32-year-old medical student was detained by Rotterdam police after reportedly killing three people at an apartment and a city hospital, marking one of the country’s bloodiest shooting occurrences.
According to authorities, the shooting spree began Thursday afternoon at an apartment building near the suspect’s home, when he shot a 39-year-old lady and her 14-year-old daughter. The mom died on the scene, while the girl died after being taken to the hospital.
According to Rotterdam Police Chief Fred Westerbeke, the gunman, who was wearing a bulletproof vest and war fatigues, then shot and murdered a 43-year-old professor in a classroom at Erasmus Medical Centre, where he was a student. The shooter allegedly then set fires.
We see his act as a targeted action, but it requires further research to gain clarity about how and why,” Westerbeke said. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte posted a statement saying there was “great dismay after the dramatic events in Rotterdam.” Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb called the turn of events “a black day.”
The shootings caused chaos in the Dutch port city, with people leaving the hospital and wheeling patients out on beds while others barricaded themselves inside. Social media footage shows individuals running and screaming in response to a huge blast. Another video shows a man, who appears to be the culprit, being held by police with his wrists cuffed behind his back and a blindfold over his eyes.
The Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima made a statement expressing their condolences to the victims’ families and friends. “We also think of everybody who lived in fear during these terrible actions,” they continued.
Last year, two people were killed and two others were injured in a shooting at a Dutch day care centre for disabled children. A gunman killed five people and injured 17 others before shooting himself in a mall south of Amsterdam in 2011.
