Dutch police arrest tram attack killer

A policeman walks in front of a tram where a gunman killed at least three persons and wounded five in what officials described as a 'possible' terrorist attack. (AFP photo)
A policeman walks in front of a tram where a gunman killed at least three persons and wounded five in what officials described as a 'possible' terrorist attack. (AFP photo)

UTRECHT, Netherlands: Dutch police on Monday arrested a Turkish-born suspect over a terrorist attack on a tram in the city of Utrecht that left three people dead and five wounded.

Police had earlier launched a huge manhunt for Gokmen Tanis, 37, issuing a picture of him on the tram and warning the public not to approach him.

Heavily armed officers later surrounded a building following the bloodshed in the Netherlands' fourth largest city and his arrest was dramatically announced at the end of a news conference.

Dutch authorities said they were still investigating a likely terrorist motive for the attack but said they "cannot exclude" other motives, including a family argument.

"We have just heard that the suspect we are looking for has been arrested," Utrecht police chief Rob van Bree told a news conference after being handed a piece of paper with news of the arrest.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the theory that it was a terror attack "could not be excluded", vowing that the Netherlands would "never give way to intolerance".

Officials said that they "could not exclude" reports that the gunman had targeted a woman known to him and others who tried to help her.

Suspect Tanis was reportedly in court in a rape case two weeks ago, broadcaster NOS said.

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Vocabulary

  • approach: to move closer to someone or something - เข้าใกล้
  • bloodshed: a situation in which people are killed or injured, especially during fighting - การนองเลือด
  • dramatically: in a big way - อย่างใหญ่หลวง
  • exclude: to intentionally not include something - แยกออกไป
  • intolerance: not willing to accept ideas or ways of behaving that are different from your own - การไม่ยอมรับความคิดที่แตกต่างไป, ความไม่อดทน
  • manhunt: an organised search for a person, especially a criminal - การล่าหัว  การตามล่าจับกุม
  • motive: a reason for doing something - แรงจูงใจ
  • rape: the crime of forcefully having sex with someone against their wish - การข่มขืน
  • suspect: a person who is thought to have committed a crime - ผู้ต้องสงสัย
  • target: to deliberately try to attack someone or something - เป้าหมาย
  • tram: a long narrow vehicle that travels along metal tracks in the middle of a street and is used as public transport in some places - รถราง

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