Two killed and teen ‘fighting for her life’ after Rotterdam hospital shooting

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Two people have died after a gunman wearing military garb opened fire at a house and a university medical centre in the port city of Rotterdam.

The shootings took place at an apartment on Heiman Dullaertplein and a classroom at Erasmus Medical Center, a university medical school, this afternoon.

The victims, who have not been named, include a 39-year-old woman and a 46-year-old man who is a teacher at Erasmus MC.

The 14-year-old daughter of the 39-year-old woman was seriously injured, Fred Westerbeke, the chief commissioner of the Rotterdam Regional Police Unit, told reporters this evening.

In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, city police said that they had arrested a 32-year-old suspect.

His name has not been released. Police said they are investigating if he was linked to the shootings – a motive remains unclear.

According to the Dutch newspaper AD, Westerbeke said the shooter lived in a property ‘very close’ to the first victim.

He set fire to the house before setting off to Erasmus MC about 1.5km away.

The suspect fired at a teacher in a classroom before throwing what one eyewitness claimed was a ‘motolov bomb’ elsewhere in the building.

Speaking to the Dutch news network RTL, the witness said they heard up to five shots at a time when some 500 people were inside the facility.

Westerbeke added that the suspect was wearing a bulletproof vest and was arrested on the teaching hospital’s helipad.

The suspect in the shooting was a student at Erasmus University Rotterdam, he said.

‘We are not looking for anyone else,’ Westerbeke added. ‘It was a focused act. We are now looking at reasons why.’

The suspect will be brought before the examining magistrate on Monday or Tuesday.

Erasmus MC said in a statement on its website that ‘several parts of the building were evacuated and we were not accessible to visitors’.

‘The police have released almost all buildings. Visitors can again visit admitted patients,’ the centre said.

‘Tomorrow, Friday, September 29, we will be open for patient care. All planned appointments will continue.’

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