{"id":238711,"date":"2023-09-29T10:09:45","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T02:09:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=238711"},"modified":"2023-09-29T10:09:45","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T02:09:45","slug":"netherlands-gun-violence-three-killed-in-dutch-shootings-shooter-also-set-fire-to-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=238711","title":{"rendered":"Netherlands gun violence: Three killed in Dutch shootings; shooter also set fire to hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Medical<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ROTTERDAM, Sept 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) —\u00a0A gunman dressed in combat gear and wearing a bulletproof vest went on a shooting rampage at a house and a hospital in Rotterdam on Thursday, killing a 14-year-old girl, her mother, and a teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dutch police said they were still investigating the motive for the twin attacks by the 32-year-old man, who also set fire to the hospital and the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man first burst into a house in the Dutch port city and opened fire, killing a 39-year-old woman and seriously injuring her 14-year-old daughter, police chief Fred Westerbeke told reporters. The girl later died of her injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He then entered a classroom at the Erasmus MC university hospital, shooting dead a 46-year-old teacher before starting another fire in the facility, sparking panic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elite police stormed the hospital, as panicked medical staff in white coats flooded out of the building pushing patients in wheelchairs and on stretchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police shouted at everyone to run to a nearby school. “They told us to stay there and we couldn’t go outside again. I’ve been there for a few hours with other patients, nurses, doctors. I saw a witness crying,” a patient, Angeliek Vleesenbeek said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You don’t expect this in the Netherlands,” 38-year-old civil servant Sem Built said. “In the United States yes, but here in the Netherlands? I would never have expected a teacher (to be killed),” added Built, who watched the drama unfold from a nearby children’s unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gunman was taken into custody and chief public prosecutor Hugo Hillenaar told reporters he was cooperating with police following his arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We cannot say anything about the motive of this terrible act at this time. The probe is still ongoing,” said Hillenaar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suspect was thought to have possessed only one firearm and there is no indication he had accomplices, authorities said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police said the suspect, a student at the hospital, was already known to the authorities over a conviction for animal cruelty, reportedly for abusing his pet rabbit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An investigation is underway as to whether he was a student of the teacher shot dead. One possible theory police have is that he was rejected for a course at the university hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities believe that the woman and her daughter were close neighbours of the suspect, leading Westerbeke to suggest they were “targeted attacks”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police had earlier described the gunman as tall, with black hair, wearing “combat-style” clothes and carrying a backpack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I am angry and sad,” said Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb, who spoke of a “very dark day” for his city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We have been shocked by a horrific incident … the emotion in the city is running high,” the mayor told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prime Minister Mark Rutte spoke of his “great dismay” at the shootings while King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima said their hearts went out to those suffering “intense grief”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rotterdam is often the scene of shootings, usually attributed to score settling by rival drug gangs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, three people were shot dead on a tram in Utrecht, sparking a huge manhunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in 2011, the country was left shocked when 24-year-old Tristan van der Vlis killed six people and wounded 10 others in a rampage at a packed shopping mall. — NNN-AGENCIES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ROTTERDAM, Sept 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) —\u00a0A gunman dressed in combat gear and wearing a bulletproof vest went on a shooting rampage at a house and a hospital in Rotterdam on Thursday, killing a 14-year-old girl, her mother, and a teacher. Dutch police said they were still investigating the motive for the twin attacks by the 32-year-old […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":238712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[209],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238711"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=238711"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":238713,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238711\/revisions\/238713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/238712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=238711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=238711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=238711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}