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Three 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 her daughter, 14, as well as a 43-year-old teacher at Erasmus MC.
‘We wish all relatives a lot of strength,’ Rotterdam police said on X, formerly Twitter, at about 8:15pm local time.
Fred Westerbeke, the chief commissioner of the Rotterdam Regional Police Unit, told reporters earlier this evening, however, there may be more victims yet to be accounted for.
City police said that they had arrested a 32-year-old suspect.
A fire broke out in a building on Heiman Dullaertplein, the scene of the first shooting (Picture: EPA)
The Erasmus MC Rotterdam Hospital on Rochussenstraat was evacuated after another shooting and fire erupted (Picture: PA)
His name has not been released. The authorities said they are investigating if he was linked to the shootings – it is not clear if the two incidents are linked.
A motive remains unclear.
The man was a neighbour to one of the victims and was a student at the university, the Rotterdam’s chief prosecutor Hugo Hillenaa said.
After the first shooting, the suspect set fire to the house before storming Erasmus MC about 1.5km away.
He fired at a teacher in a classroom before throwing what one eyewitness claimed was a ‘molotov cocktail’ as he made his way through the hospital.
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.
One witness said the marksman lobbed a molotov cocktail (Picture: X/@ADinmohamed)
A man was detained in connection to the incidents (Picture: Hollandse Hoogte/Shutterstock)
Westerbeke said the suspect was wearing a bulletproof vest and was arrested on the teaching hospital’s helipad.
‘We are not looking for anyone else,’ Westerbeke added. ‘It was a focused act. We are now looking at reasons why.’
The man will be brought before the examining magistrate on Monday or Tuesday.
Police had earlier described the suspect on X as tall, wearing combat clothes, carrying a backpack and headphones and using a handgun.
He ‘may be on his way on a motorcycle,’ the police said.
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 medical centre will re-open tomorrow (Picture: Getty Images/AFP)
‘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.’
Outgoing prime minister Mark Rutte posted on X: ‘There is great dismay after the dramatic events in Rotterdam this afternoon.
‘My thoughts go out to the victims of the violence, their loved ones and to all the people who have been in great fear.’
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