The police in the Netherlands said people were killed in two shootings at a house and a university medical center in the port city of Rotterdam on Thursday, but the exact death toll was not immediately clear.
In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, the Rotterdam police said that they had arrested a 32-year-old suspect and were investigating if he was linked to the shootings. According to local news reports, he was detained on the helipad of the university.
A fire also broke out at the two locations, and emergency crews were responding, according to local news reports. Images on social media showed people, some wearing medical gowns, rushing from the university building.
Much remained unclear, including a motive and the name of the shooting suspect. But the authorities said they had received an initial report of gunfire at 2.25 p.m. local time on Thursday. The shootings took place at an apartment and a classroom at Erasmus Medical Center, a prominent university medical school, in Rotterdam, the police said.
They described a suspect and warned on the X platform that he had been seen 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 Medical Center also alerted people not to go to the facility.
The police said they had informed “family and relatives” of the shooting victims, and said they assumed there were no other shooters involved.
Gun violence is rare in the Netherlands, but in 2019 the country was shaken by a deadly shooting on a tram in the city of Utrecht that killed at least three people and injured seven others.
And this year, Rotterdam has been rocked by small explosions at homes and businesses blamed on rival gangs.
Claire Moses contributed reporting.
THE NAIS IS OFFICIAL EDITOR ON NAIS NEWS