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At least three people were killed in two shootings by the same man in the Dutch city of Rotterdam this afternoon, first in a private home and then in a classroom at the Erasmus University Hospital. The murderer then set fire to both places. The police arrested a 32-year-old suspect on the helipad of the Erasmus University Hospital: he was a student at the same university, said Rotterdam’s chief public prosecutor Hugo Hillenaar. The confirmed victims are a 39-year-old woman (the killer’s neighbor), her 14-year-old daughter – who died of her injuries a few hours later – and a 46-year-old Erasmus University teacher. There were also several injuries. It has not yet been confirmed whether the person killed was the suspect’s teacher. There is also no news about his connections with the woman. Both Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and King Wilhelm expressed shock and sadness over the victims.
What we know so far
The first shooting occurred in a house on Heiman Dullaertplein in the Delfshaven district. Then, after setting a fire, the man moved towards a classroom at the Erasmus Medical Center: he killed the teacher in the auditorium. And then he started a second fire. Police believe he acted alone and that there are no other suspects. Eyewitnesses reported chaos at the hospital, where students and medical staff were ordered to leave the part of the complex where classes were taking place. Some patients were also wheeled out in wheelchairs and hospital beds. Before arresting a suspect, police described the gunman, who had a gun, as tall, with black hair, carrying a backpack and wearing headphones. He was wearing combat gear. Rotterdam is a frequent scene of shootings, usually attributed to settling scores between rival drug gangs. In 2019, three people were shot while riding a tram in Utrecht.
Italian witness: “So much fear, maybe personal motive”
“I heard shots and screams, there was panic everywhere. We ran to the exit and left all our personal belongings behind.” It is the story heard by ANSA of 24-year-old Beniamino Vincenzoni, an Italian doctor living in the Netherlands who works at the Erasmo da Rotterdam University Hospital, the scene of one of the two shootings. “The police arrested a man who entered one of the hospital’s classrooms and opened fire on a doctor-teacher, whom he had also named before shooting him,” said Vincenzoni, who did not rule out a personal motive.
