On the morning of 18 March 2019, four people were killed and six others were injured in a

mass shooting A mass shooting is a violent crime in which one or more attackers use a firearm to Gun violence, kill or injure multiple individuals in rapid succession. There is no widely accepted specific definition, and different organizations tracking su ...

on a

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. One of the injured died of his injuries ten days later. Gökmen Tanis, a 37-year-old Dutch citizen (before being stripped of citizenship in 2022), originally from Turkey, was arrested later that day following a major security operation and manhunt. He was later convicted of murder with

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

intent and sentenced to

life in prison Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are co ...

. The shooting was considered an act of

Islamic extremism Islamic extremism refers to extremist beliefs, behaviors and ideologies adhered to by some Muslims within Islam. The term 'Islamic extremism' is contentious, encompassing a spectrum of definitions, ranging from academic interpretations of Is ...

."Utrecht tram shooting suspect confesses, claims he acted alone"

Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

, 22 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.

Attack

At about 10:45

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(09:45

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

), a shooting took place on a

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

near the 24 Oktoberplein junction in

. The shooter fled in a car, leading to a large scale police manhunt, which lasted for much of the day. Several hours later, the police arrested Gökmen Tanis, a 37-year-old man born in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. In addition, two further arrests were made in connection to the shooting. Police impounded a red

Renault Clio The Renault Clio () is a supermini (B-segment) car, produced by French automobile manufacturer Renault. It was launched in 1990, and entered its fifth generation in 2019. The Clio has had substantial critical and commercial success, being consi ...

in connection with the attack. Initially, it was reported that one of the women shot may have been the target due to "family reasons" and other passengers coming to her aid were then also targeted. However, law enforcement later announced there was no evidence of any connection between Tanis and the victims. Instead, a note found in the getaway car hinted at

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

being the motive.

Victims

Three people were killed and seven others were injured, three severely. The injured were taken to the

University Medical Center Utrecht The University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU; Dutch: ''Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht'') is the University hospital of the city of Utrecht, Netherlands. It is affiliated with the Utrecht University. Since the foundation of the university in 16 ...

. The three people killed were identified as two men from Utrecht aged 49 and 28, and a 19-year-old woman from the nearby city of

Vianen Vianen () is a city and a former municipality in the central Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is located south of the Lek river. Before 2002 it was part of the province of South Holland. Vianen is made up of a historic town centre tha ...

. A neighbour of the murdered 19-year-old started a crowd-funding action to cover the costs of her funeral, reaching the target within hours. It received so many donations that it was turned into a fund for all of the victims of the attack. The 49-year-old victim, Rinke Terpstra, broke a window in the tram which allowed at least five people to escape. Terpstra was posthumously awarded the '' Erepenning voor Menslievend Hulpbetoon'' for his actions. A 74-year-old man injured in the shooting died of his injuries on 28 March, bringing the death toll to four.

Perpetrator

was arrested after a manhunt on the day of the attack. Tanis grew up in

Yozgat Yozgat is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Yozgat Province and Yozgat District.Kanaleneiland, Tanis is known for his hair color as 'De Rode Turk' or 'Lokman'. As of 2011, Tanis has been intermittently addicted to

hard drugs Recreational drug use is the use of one or more psychoactive drugs to induce an altered state of consciousness, either for pleasure or for some other casual purpose or pastime. When a psychoactive drug enters the user's body, it induces an in ...

. According to his family and local residents, he was very aggressive when he used drugs, and, apart from his interactions with other drug users, he was almost always seen alone. In the periods between his addictions he focused more on his

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

faith. At the time of his arrest, Tanis was about to be evicted due to rent arrears, while he also had outstanding fines. He lived alone at the time, but was engaged and had wedding plans. In August 2011, Tanis and another man were recorded verbally harassing , then a reporter for ''

GeenStijl is a Dutch blog founded on 10 April 2003. The logo is a pink coloured crown within a circle. In the Dutch language, the term "geen stijl" (literal translation: no style) is used to describe an act by a person or organisation that lacks style o ...

'', during a street interview by the

Oudegracht The Oudegracht, or "old canal", runs through the center of Utrecht, the Netherlands. It starts in the southeast of the city. Here the Kromme Rijn (the original main bed of the Rhine river) and the Vaartse Rijn (a medieval canal reconnecting Utr ...

. The video was popularly shared on the Dutch-language video site '' Dumpert''. On December 7, 2013, Tanis was arrested in Kanaleneiland after firing 10 shots at an apartment building with a 9mm Beretta while under the influence of alcohol. He was convicted of illegal possession of weapons & sentenced to 150 days in prison, 49 of which were conditional. On 11 July 2017, Tanis raped a woman with whom he was acquainted through their joint cocaine addiction. On the day of the incident, Tanis had went to her residence while drunk, then briefly left to assault and rob a teenage boy in the neighbourhood. Upon his return 20 minutes later, Tanis was also under the influence of narcotics and proceeded to rape and beat the victim. Tanis was arrested and indicted, claiming to police that the encounter had been consensual. Tanis faced trial for the rape two weeks before the tram attack. Two days before the shooting, he was released after a two-week sentence at

Lelystad Lelystad () is a Dutch Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and the capital city of the province of Flevoland in the central Netherlands. The city, built on reclaimed land, was founded in 1967 and was named after Cornelis Lely, who en ...

prison, where he had reportedly been further radicalised and was known for attacking guards with headbutts. He was due to serve four months in prison for a burglary committed in September 2018. On 22 March 2019, Tanis confessed to being the sole perpetrator of the shooting. Another suspect was arrested but then released. A letter found in the hijacked car the suspect fled in suggested terrorist motivations; some witnesses claimed they heard the suspect say "

Allahu akbar Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), although the term was used in pre-Islamic Arabia ...

". The

public prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible ...

charged the suspect with four counts of murder with a terrorist motive. On 1 July 2019, the contents of the found letter were made public. The letter read: "I am doing this for my religion. You people are killing Muslims and want to take our religion away from us. You will not succeed in that. Allah is great." (Dutch: ''"Ik doe dit voor mijn geloof. Jullie maken moslims dood en willen jullie ons geloof van ons afpakken, maar gaat niet lukken. Allah is groot."'') Additionally, the silencer attached to the handgun used in the killings was inscribed with "texts referring to Islam", apparently emulating the writings on one of the rifles and its magazines used in the

Christchurch mosque shootings Two consecutive mass shootings took place in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 15 March 2019. They were committed by a single perpetrator during Friday prayer, first at the Al Noor Mosque in Riccarton, at 1:40p.m. and almost immediately afterwards ...

three days earlier. In court, Tanis represented himself after denying his right to a court-appointed legal defence. He stated that he committed the shooting in retaliation for the killing of Muslims abroad, telling the judge "I wanted to show you people that you are not made of diamond and that we are not made of sand" ("''Ik wilde laten zien dat jullie niet van diamant zijn en wij niet van zand.''") On 20 March 2020, Tanis was sentenced to life in prison. He was also convicted of the 2017 rape charge, but due to already getting a life sentence, no additional prison term was added. Instead, Tanis was required to pay the requested compensation of €30,000 to the victim. On 17 February 2021, Tanis attacked two guards while incarcerated at in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

. One guard was stabbed with a home-made stabbing weapon in his face and neck. His minor injuries were treated in the hospital. A second guard had a pan of hot oil thrown at him, but was not injured. Tanis also destroyed gym and cooking equipment in the recreational room. In March 2022, he was stripped of his Dutch citizenship and lost his passport. If he gets paroled, he must leave the country because he's an undesirable alien. In November 2024, Tanis was convicted of attempted murder, attempted severe assault and vandalism after a retrial for his 2021 assault case. No punitive measures had been imposed during a first trial, but an appeal was entered by the public prosecutor's office, arguing that even if a sentence would likely only be symbolic, crimes committed during incarceration by those with life sentences should still be punished. He received an additional 7 years imprisonment, which would be served in case of early release.

Aftermath

After the attack, the threat level in the province of Utrecht was unprecedentedly raised to level 5, the highest level. After the suspect was caught, it was reduced to Level 4. Police presence was increased at railway stations, including

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, and Utrecht, and at the country's airports. Tram services in the city were cancelled. Elite police forces carrying semi-automatic weapons guarded Jewish community buildings. Mosques in the city were evacuated, and those elsewhere in the country were given increased security, likely due to the recent mosque shootings in New Zealand. The day after the shooting, all

national flags A national flag is a flag that represents and symbolizes a given nation. It is flown by the government of that nation, but can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanings for its colors and symbo ...

on government buildings in the Netherlands and at Dutch diplomatic posts were flown at

half-mast Half-mast or half-staff (American English) refers to a flag flying below the summit of a ship mast, a pole on land, or a pole on a building. In many countries this is seen as a symbol of respect, mourning, distress, or, in some cases, a sal ...

on request of Prime Minister

Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as the 14th Secretary General of NATO, secretary general of NATO since October 2024. He previously served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, prime minister of the Neth ...

. Dutch royal residences flew a black banner, symbolising mourning, alongside the customary

royal standard In heraldry and vexillology, a heraldic flag is a flag containing coat of arms, coats of arms, heraldic badges, or other devices used for personal identification. Heraldic flags include banners, standards, pennons and their variants, gonfalons, ...

. File:Police cars at the cordon near the 24 Oktoberplein, Utrecht, March 18, 2019.jpg, Police cars at the cordon near the 24 Oktoberplein, Utrecht, 18 March 2019. File:Afzetting van het 24 Oktoberplein, Utrecht op 18 maart 2019 na de tramaanslag die dag.jpg, Cordoning of 24 Oktoberplein, Utrecht, 18 March 2019 File:Flowers to commemorate the victims of the tram attack on March 18, 2019 at the 24 Oktoberplein, Utrecht.jpg, Flowers to commemorate the victims of the tram attack on 18 March 2019 at the 24 Oktoberplein, Utrecht File:Local residents bring flowers to commemorate the victims of the tram attack on March 18, 2019 at the 24 Oktoberplein, Utrecht.jpg, Local residents bring flowers to commemorate the victims of the tram attack File:Local residents have brought flowers to commemorate the victims of the tram attack on March 18, 2019 at the 24 Oktoberplein, Utrecht.jpg, Local residents have brought flowers to commemorate the victims of the tram attack. City flag of Utrecht File:School children of UniC, Utrecht are allowed to go home after the alert for the tram attack March 18, 2019.jpg, School children of UniC and the International School of Utrecht, Utrecht are allowed to go home after the alert for the tram attack 18 March 2019 afternoon

2023 Commemoration

On 18 March 2023 the 2019 shooting was publicly commemorated by a speech by Mayor

Sharon Dijksma Sharon Alida Maria Dijksma (born 16 April 1971) is a Dutch politician serving as Mayor of Utrecht since 2020. A member of the Labour Party (PvdA), she was previously a State Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science from 2007 ...

near the location of the shooting. Flowers were laid down, and a special poem by city poet Ruben van Gogh was inaugurated. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, no yearly commemorations were held in previous years. Dutch Minister of Justice and Security

Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius Dilan and Dillan may refer to: People with the given name Dilan is a Kurdish language, Kurdish female given name that means "hearts"; it is derived from Persian language, Persian. Female * Dilan Ağgül (born 1998), Turkish-German women's footba ...

was present at the ceremony. Herdenking Tramaanslag 24 Oktoberplein Utrecht.Toespraak burgemeester Dijksma - 4, 2023.jpg, Speech by Utrecht Mayor Sharon Dijksma Herdenking Tramaanslag 24 Oktoberplein Utrecht. Publiek legt bloemen - 1, 2023.jpg, The public laid down flowers Herdenking Tramaanslag 24 Oktoberplein Utrecht. Boeketten - 3, 2023.jpg, A participant adjusted the flowers Herdenking Tramaanslag 24 Oktoberplein Utrecht. Gedicht van Ruben van Gogh, 2023.jpg, Poem by Ruben van Gogh Herdenking Tramaanslag 24 Oktoberplein Utrecht. Publiek legt bloemen bij een Friese vlag - 2, 2023.jpg, Family and friends attach flowers for a Frisian victim to the tram track fence

References

External links

* {{Islamic terrorism in Europe, state=collapsed 2019 crimes in the Netherlands 2019 mass shootings in Europe History of Utrecht (city) Islamic terrorism in the Netherlands Islamic terrorist incidents in 2019 March 2019 crimes in Europe March 2019 in the Netherlands 21st-century mass murder in the Netherlands Mass shootings in the Netherlands Terrorist incidents in the Netherlands Gun violence in Europe Mass murder in 2019