The authorities are taking seriously the presumption of terrorist action in an investigation into an attack on Monday in a train in Utrecht that left three people dead and five injured, Dutch Attorney General Rücher Yukon said after finding evidence, including a letter inside the vehicle of the main suspect in the attack.
"So far, our investigations have not found a link between the main suspect and the victims," prosecutors and police in the Netherlands said in a statement.
Dutch and Dutch media reports said a family dispute might be the motive for the shooting, but the Dutch authorities said they did not rule out other motives. The prosecutor told a news conference yesterday that family problems could be behind the incident. Yukon told reporters that the suspect had already been arrested However, he did not elaborate on additional details.
A 19-year-old girl from the town of Vianne, near Utrecht, and two men, aged 28 and 49, were killed by the shooting, the prosecution said.
The Dutch police arrested yesterday the bomber after a chase lasted seven hours, and found with him a weapon and a car used to escape, and police said the port is named Gokman Tanis, a Turk - born, aged 37 years.
The terrorist threat
After arresting the attacker, the Dutch authorities reduced the level of the terrorist threat after it had raised it to the highest level. Schools were closed, security at airports and mosques increased, and government buildings across the Netherlands became the national flag today.
On the other hand, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that the Turkish authorities concerned are looking into the background of the attack, and whether it was a terrorist act or a family dispute, as indicated by the various media.
The official Anatolia news agency quoted relatives of the attacker of Utrecht as saying that the attacker targeted one of his relatives "for family reasons" and then shot at others who intervened to help.
It is noteworthy that the Netherlands has not been subjected to attacks similar to those that rocked neighboring European countries during the past few years, but it has seen a number of incidents.