Rotterdam’s police and authorities were in contact late in the day regarding a shooting in Rotterdam this afternoon. A 39-year-old woman and a 46-year-old man have died and the condition of the daughter of one of the deceased is critical, police said.
A gunman opened fire in an apartment complex in a Dutch city, then entered a nearby medical center. Although the fire spread to both places, it was extinguished.
“Two shootings in Rotterdam leave people dead. We will inform family and loved ones first and give explanations later“, the city police said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter).
Elite police units raided a hospital in the Dutch city in search of a 32-year-old suspect armed with a handgun, officials said. The motive for the attack is still unknown, local news agency ANP reported, citing police.
Police said that man is suspected of being the shooter, and that there was no second shooter.
Footage from the scene showed people, including doctors and patients, leaving the hospital as police in bulletproof vests entered.
Police helicopters flew overhead. Doctors in white coats carried patients on stretchers and wheelchairs.
Police previously said the suspect was clothed.of fighting“, he was tall, with black hair and he was carrying a backpack.
“First, the shooting took place on the fourth floor. Four or five shells were fired. A Molotov cocktail was then thrown into the education center“A medical student quoted by TV channel RTL declared on condition of anonymity.
“Panic, screaming…I didn’t hear any visuals, just panic“said another eyewitness, public broadcaster NOS quoted.
Rotterdam is often the scene of shootings, which are usually said to settle scores between rival drug gangs.
Officials are expected to hold a press conference soon to provide more details.
In 2019, three people were shot dead on a tram in Utrecht, sparking a massive manhunt. In 2011, 24-year-old Tristan van der Vlys shocked the country when he killed 6 people and injured 10 others in a crowded shopping mall.
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