Gokmen Tanis, Dutch tram shooting suspect, arrested in Utrecht

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https://nypost.com/2019/03/18/suspect-in-deadly-dutch-tram-shooting-arrested-authorities/

Gokmen Tanis, Dutch tram shooting suspect, arrested in Utrecht
By Yaron Steinbuch
March 18, 2019 | 1:55pm | Updated

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Gokmen Tanis
AP


Police have arrested the man accused of killing three people on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht, the city police chief announced.

The suspect, identified as Turkish-born Gokmen Tanis, 37, allegedly gunned down three people and wounded five others before fleeing in a car, officials said.

The shooting sparked fears of a terrorist attack, but the man’s relatives have told Turkish news agency Anadolu that Tanis fired at a relative because of “family reasons.”

He then shot others who tried to help the victim, they told the news outlet.

Tanis’ father said his son should be punished if he’s to blame.

Mehmet Tanis, who lives in Turkey’s central Kayseri province, told the private Demiroren news agency that he hadn’t spoken to his son in 11 years.

“If he did it, he should pay the penalty,” he said.

Police revised the number of wounded after initially saying nine were hurt, three seriously.

The Dutch counter-terrorism agency NCTV said it could not rule out terrorism as a motive for the attack.

Police spokesman Bernhard Jens said police were “not 100 percent sure” about the motive.

“It could still be a domestic dispute,” he said, the UK’s Guardian reported. “We will wait for the investigation before we say more.”

Police on the hunt for Tanis circulated a surveillance photo of the suspect and warned the public not to approach him.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte said a terror attack “could not be excluded,” vowing that the Netherlands would “never give way to intolerance.”
 
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