A Turkish man was captured Monday, hours after he was
identified as the suspect who allegedly gunned down three people and wounded
several others on a Netherlands tram in an apparent terror attack, Dutch police
said.
Gökmen Tanis, from Turkey, was accused of opening fire
about 10:45 a.m. local time near 24 Oktoberplein junction in the Dutch city of
Utrecht, located about 22 miles southeast of Amsterdam. The 37-year-old suspect
was taken into custody during a raid, police in Utrecht said. Heavily armed
anti-terror officers were captured on video earlier gathering in
front of an apartment block close to the scene of the initial attack
of the tram.
Utrecht Mayor Jan van Zanen, who initially said nine
people were wounded, said three of those injured remain in critical condition
on Monday.
"We cannot exclude, even stronger, we assume a
terror motive," van Zanen previously said.
Netherlands Counter-Terrorism Agency head Pieter-Jaap
Aalbersberg said in a Monday afternoon news conference that the gunman opened
fire in several locations.
"In Utrecht, there was a shooting at several
locations," Aalbersberg told reporters. "A lot is still unclear at
this point and local authorities are working hard to establish all the
facts."
Few details have been released about Tanis since police
identified him as a suspect in the deadly shooting. Dutch prosecutor Rutger
Jeuken said in a news conference Tanis had been previously arrested but did not
provide further details.
The suspect's father, Mehmet Tanis, who lives in Turkey's
central Kayseri province, told the private Demiroren news agency that he hadn't
spoken to his son in 11 years. He said, "if he [his son] did it, he should
pay the penalty."
The attack prompted a citywide lockdown while the
country's counter-terror office raised the threat level to maximum. Van
Zanen earlier called the shooting a "horrible and radical incident"
and said his "thoughts are with" the victims and their loved ones.
"The most important thing at the moment is taking
care of the wounded and investigating the circumstances of the incident. We do
not exclude anything, not even a terrorist attack," he said in a
statement.
Photos and videos showed officials cordoning off the area
near the tram. A witness told Dutch news site NU.nl that "a man started shooting
wildly." Another witness told Dutch broadcaster NOS he encountered a
woman with blood on her hands and clothes at the scene.
"I brought her into my car and helped her," he
recalled. "When the police arrived, she was unconscious."
In neighboring Germany, police stepped up their
surveillance of the Dutch border.
New York City Police Commissioner James O'Neill said the
NYPD was closely monitoring the shooting.
"#NYPD is closely monitoring reports of a shooting
on a tram near Utrecht Central Station, the Netherlands’ main transportation
hub. There does not appear to be a #NYC nexus at this time. A manhunt is
ongoing & the motive is so far unknown. We ask everyone to always remain
alert," the commissioner said.
The Netherlands shooting comes only days after a
self-avowed white nationalist opened fire inside two New Zealand mosques,
killing 50 people and injuring dozens more.
The Associated Press contributed to this
report.
Katherine Lam is a breaking and trending news digital
producer for Fox News. Follow her on Twitter at @bykatherinelam
__________________
IN
OTHER NEWS
France seeks answers after police failure to
contain rioting
Photo: A
barricade burns on the Champs Elysees avenue Saturday, March 16, 2019 in Paris.
French yellow vest protesters clashed Saturday with riot police near the Arc de
Triomphe as they kicked off their 18th straight weekend of demonstrations
against President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
PARIS – A top French security official is
acknowledging that police failed to contain rioting in Paris during yellow vest
protests and says the government is trying to avoid a repeat scenario.
Junior Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said Monday on RTL
radio that police had prepared for an upsurge in violence but were "less
reactive" Saturday than in previous demonstrations. He said they were
notably more cautious about using rubber ball launchers because of numerous
injuries they've caused.
Nunez and the interior minister are meeting Monday with
President Emmanuel Macron.
Rioters set life-threatening fires, ransacked luxury
stores and attacked police around the Champs-Elysees on Saturday. The sudden
resurgence of violence came as the yellow vest movement demanding economic
justice has been dwindling.
Calls are already circulating on social networks for new
protests next Saturday.
