Rotterdam
Shots in the university hospital and residential building – three people die
Rotterdam police officers on duty at the Erasmus Hospital.
© Sem van der Wal/ANP / AFP
A 32-year-old student killed three people in Rotterdam. He opened fire on a mother and her 14-year-old daughter in an apartment and killed a lecturer in the university clinic.
The man first broke into an apartment in Rotterdam, police chief Fred Westerbeke said at a press conference. There he shot a 39-year-old woman and critically injured her 14-year-old daughter. He then broke into a lecture hall at the nearby university clinic and shot a 46-year-old lecturer. He also set fires in both places, which were quickly extinguished by the fire department.
Incendiary device thrown into the lecture hall area
Special police forces stormed the Erasmus Hospital. Pictures showed people streaming out of the hospital while police in protective clothing ran through the clinic. Hospital workers in white coats carried patients to safety using stretchers and wheelchairs. Helicopters circled above the clinic and snipers positioned themselves on the roof.
A medical student told the broadcaster RTL Nieuws that like that star belongs to Bertelsmann, four or five shots were fired on the fourth floor of the clinic. An incendiary device was then thrown into the lecture hall area of the clinic. “There was a lot of panic and shouting,” another eyewitness told broadcaster NOS.
According to police, the suspect is studying at Erasmus University and has a previous conviction for animal cruelty. The police had previously warned that the attacker, who was wearing “combat clothing,” was tall, had black hair and was carrying a backpack.
Investigators believe he only owned a firearm. There are therefore no indications of possible accomplices. Prosecutor Hugo Hillenaar told reporters that the suspect cooperated with police after his arrest. “We cannot say anything about the motive for this terrible act at the moment. The investigation is ongoing,” he added.
Violence again and again in Rotterdam
Gun violence is occurring again in Rotterdam, mostly in connection with drug trafficking. In 2019, a man killed three people on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht. In 2011, a 24-year-old killed six people in a shopping center in the city of Alphen aan den Rijn and then shot himself.