Tram shooting in Holland in possible terrorist attack

[Guest Indiana]

Utrecht, Netherlands

A SHOOTING attack on Monday in the Dutch city of Utrecht that left three people dead and nine injured was being investigated as a possible case of terrorism, authorities said, and police were focusing their hunt on a gunman who escaped the scene.

"At this stage, we can confirm three deaths and nine wounded, three of them seriously," Utrecht Mayor Jan van Zanen said in a video statement on Twitter. "We are working on the principle that it was a terrorist attack," he added.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte had earlier said there were "possible deaths" and that a terrorist motive was "not excluded".

The Netherlands' main counterterrorism agency raised its assessment of the threat in Utrecht province, just south-east of Amsterdam, to the highest level and said it had activated a crisis team. The Dutch paramilitary police increased security at airports and other vital infrastructure points.

Armed police at the scene where a shooting took place in the Dutch city of Utrecht on March 18. Authorities raised the terrorism threat to its highest level in Utrecht. 

PHOTO: EPA-EFE

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/tram-shooting-in-holland-in-possible-terrorist-attack