Gokman Tanis apprehended; he is known to the authorities

From Dutch News and Associated Press

The suspect wanted for shooting dead three people in Utrecht on Monday morning has been arrested, police said at a news conference on Monday evening.

The circumstances of the arrest are still unclear, and officials at the news conference were taken by surprise by the development, which came as the meeting was ending. However, justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus confirmed shortly afterwards that the man was ‘known to the police’ but would say nothing further about the circumstances of the arrest or the motive.

A terrorist motive has not been ruled out and police are also looking into the possibility that the shooter knew his victim. Several eyewitnesses report that the gunman appeared to target a woman and then turned his gun on several people who were trying to drag her to safety. Tanis’ relatives told Turkey’s state-run Anadolo news agency that his motive was domestic, though Dutch authorities have not confirmed that, according to Reuters. 

His father said at first that he had not seen his son for 11 years and had no idea what he may have experienced in that time; then said he may have been aiming at ‘a relative’. 

The Dutch justice minister has told The Associated Press that the suspect in the Utrecht tram attack had a criminal record. Local networks said that the suspect had been charged several times over the past years, anything from attempted manslaughter to petty crime in and around Utrecht. The networks said that only two weeks ago he was in court on charges of raping of woman in 2017. A man of violence it seems.