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Police search for suspect after multiple people hurt in tram shooting in Netherlands
Police in the small city of Utrecht, Netherlands, say multiple people are injured after a shooting on a public tram Monday morning.
The city is located about 50 kilometres south of Amsterdam.
“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.
There were no details about the severity of the injuries or the status of the shooter.
Police spokesman Bernhard Jens said the suspect could have left the scene by car, and he did not rule out the possibility that more than one person was involved.
“We want to try to catch the person responsible as soon as possible,” Jens said.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he was “deeply concerned” and that crisis talks were to be held in response to the incident. Dutch radio said security had been increased at the seat of the government in The Hague.
Police say they are considering terrorism as a motive, and officials raised the region’s threat level to the highest.
“Threath level raised to 5, exclusively for the province of #Utrecht [until] 18 hrs. Perpetrator on the run,” Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security wrote on Twitter. “We cannot rule out terrorist motive.”
“We also take into account a possible terrorist motive,” officials said on Twitter.
Military police are on “extra alert” at airports and important buildings as the manhunt for the suspect continued, the Associated Press reported.
The shooting took place in a residential neighbourhood around 10:45 a.m.
Police forces walk near a tram at the 24 Oktoberplace in Utrecht, on March 18, 2019 where a shooting took place. – A gunman who opened fire on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht on March 18, injuring several people, is on the run, police said.
The tram station stop at 24 Oktoberplein has been cordoned off as emergency services are at the scene.
Tram service in the entire city has been halted as police investigate.
More to come
*with files from Reuters and the Associated Press
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