On 9 April 2011, six people were killed by a gunman who entered the Ridderhof mall in

Alphen aan den Rijn Alphen aan den Rijn (; or "Alphen on the Rhine") is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The city is situated on the banks of the river Oude Rijn (Utrecht and South Holland), Oude Rijn (Old Rhine ...

, Netherlands, a town approximately south-west of

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 ...

. Using a rifle, 24-year-old Tristan van der Vlis shot several people and then killed himself, reportedly with a different firearm. There were seven deaths, including the killer, and 17 wounded, making it the deadliest attack in the Netherlands since the

2009 attack on the Dutch royal family The 2009 attack on the Dutch royal family occurred on 30th April in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, when a man drove his car at high speed into a parade which included Queen Beatrix, Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Crown Prince Willem-Alexande ...

Shooting

Van der Vlis, wearing a bulletproof vest and armed with a semi-automatic Smith & Wesson M&P15-22, a stainless steel

Colt M1911 The Colt M1911 (also known as 1911, Colt 1911, Colt .45, or Colt Government in the case of Colt-produced models) is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol chambered primarily for the .45 ACP cartridge. History Early histor ...

.45-caliber

pistol A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a gun barrel, barrel with an integral chamber (firearms), chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the Englis ...

, and a

Taurus Raging Bull The Raging Bull is a DA/SA, large-frame revolver manufactured by the Brazilian Taurus International firearm company beginning in 1997. The Raging Bull has a dual-locking design built on a heavy frame, allowing the revolver to easily fire extremel ...

.44 Magnum

revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

, first got out of his car and shot a person outside, then entered the Ridderhof mall and fired more than 100 rounds, killing six people and injuring another 17 before he took a pistol, and took his own life. Many shoppers in the centre panicked before it was evacuated and cordoned off. Later that day one of the injured victims died from their injuries, raising the total number of deceased to seven. The gunman had left a note in his car stating that explosives had been left in three malls in the city; these malls were subsequently evacuated. Children were among the victims, but they had only mild injuries. Among the dead were three men aged 80, 49 and 42, and three women aged 91, 68 and 45. The first victim was a poet and journalist from

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

who had escaped an assassination attempt, only to be killed by Van der Vlis after he fled to the Netherlands. All of Van der Vlis' victims were shot at indiscriminately.

Perpetrator

The shooter was 24-year-old Tristan van der Vlis (June 13, 1986 - April 9, 2011) who lived in an apartment complex in

with his parents. He had lived in Alphen since his childhood. According to the police, he was a member of a shooting association and possessed three firearms. He had a history of psychological and psychiatric problems, including

paranoid schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, hearing voices), delusions, disorganized thinking and behavior, and flat or inappropriate affect. Symptoms develop gradually and typically begin ...

; in 2006 he spent 10 days in a closed institution after attempting suicide. He wanted to punish

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

by murdering "his creatures". Van der Vlis was obsessed with the 1999

Columbine High School massacre A school shooting and attempted bombing occurred on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, twelfth-grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 13 students and one teach ...

and chose the date of 9 April because it would have been the 30th birthday of gunman

Eric Harris Eric David Harris (April 9, 1981 – April 20, 1999) and Dylan Bennet Klebold ( ; September 11, 1981 – April 20, 1999) were American high school seniors and mass murderers who perpetrated the Columbine High School massacre at Columbine H ...

. Van der Vlis started shooting at 12:08 pm because that was the time when Harris committed suicide. Van der Vlis was the grandson of

Hennaarderadeel Hennaarderadeel (Dutch: Hennaarderadeel, Frisian: Hinnaarderadiel) is a former municipality in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Friesland, southwest of Leeuwarden. Located in the northern Netherlands, the area was known for its predominantly rural ...

and

Franeker Franeker (; ) is one of the eleven historical City rights in the Low Countries, cities of Friesland and capital of the municipality of Waadhoeke. It is located north of the Van Harinxmakanaal and about west of Leeuwarden. As of 2023, it had 13,0 ...

mayor Kornelis van der Vlis, who was a member of the National Socialist Movement during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was also the nephew of former Dutch General

Arie van der Vlis General Arie van der Vlis (20 August 1940 – 4 July 2020) was a Dutch military officer who served as Chief of the Defence Staff between 1992 and 1994. References External links 1940 births 2020 deaths Chiefs of the Defence Staff (N ...

, who also served as the Chief of the Defence Staff from 1992 to 1994.

Casualties

*Ali van Doorn (91) *Frans Deutekom (80) *Margriet ter Haar (68) *Michael Boezaard (49) *Constanze Boezaard-Bierman (45) *Nadim Youssef (42)

Response

Herdenking slachtoffers Alphen aan den Rijn

Bloemenzee voor winkelcentrum de Ridderhof

The

Netherlands Government Information Service The Netherlands Government Information Service (''Dutch:'' Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst, abbrev.: RVD) is a Dutch government agency. The RVD is the official information service of the Dutch government and is the spokesbody for the prime minister, th ...

, through a brief statement on Twitter, said

Queen Beatrix Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix was born during the reign of her maternal gr ...

was "speechless because of the great loss and sadness;" and politicians such as Minister of Security and Justice Ivo Opstelten expressed feelings of shock and tragedy. Several thousand people attended a memorial service at the mall on 10 April. 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 ...

, Minister Opstelten and acting Mayor of Alphen aan den Rijn

Bas Eenhoorn Herman Bastiaan "Bas" Eenhoorn (born 14 September 1946) is a Dutch politician and management consultant. A member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), he was party chair from 1999 until 2003. Eenhoorn served as Mayor of Schier ...

were also present. Shortly after the shooting, police arrested a 17-year-old boy who threatened to carry out another mass shooting. The teenager from Rotterdam posted on Twitter: "Haha

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

is also coming to the Netherlands. This man in Alphen already has 6 kills on his name. I'm going to outdo him." After a backlash, the boy deleted the post and claimed it was a joke. Since then, four other people were arrested for making similar threats on Twitter.

Aftermath

On 20 September 2019, the

Supreme Court of the Netherlands The Supreme Court of the Netherlands ( or simply ''Hoge Raad''), officially the High Council of the Netherlands, is the final court of appeal in civil, criminal and tax cases in the Netherlands, including Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Aruba. Th ...

(''Hoge Raad'') concluded that the police of Alphen aan den Rijn was at fault for distributing a firearms license to the perpetrator who obviously had a mental illness. Therefore, the police were held accountable for all damages suffered by the victims and their relatives. After the shooting the police in the Netherlands had a surge of revoked licences and currently maintain a stricter enforcement of law regarding the possession of firearms.

References