A medical student accused of fatally shooting three people in the Dutch city of Rotterdam had been undergoing psychological examinations to establish whether he was mentally fit to become a doctor, a hospital official said.
The suspect, identified by Dutch media only as Fouad L, was arrested by heavily armed police on Thursday wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a firearm, police said.
He allegedly shot a 39-year-old woman and her 14-year-old daughter in an apartment near his home on Thursday afternoon and then went to the nearby Erasmus Medical Centre, where he shot a 43-year-old doctor who was teaching a class at the hospital.
All three died of their injuries. Police and prosecutors said the gunman also started fires at both locations.
While prosecutors have not yet commented on a possible motive, Stefan Sleijfer, chairman of the executive board of Erasmus MC and dean of the faculty of medicine and health sciences, said the shootings could be linked to a psychological examination of the suspect linked to his studies.
Mr Sleijfer said: “What happened was that we had previous signals from the police and they were asking us whether this person was fit and was suitable to become a medical doctor. And that was a signal that we took very seriously.
“Subsequently the student was assessed whether he, from a mental perspective, was fit enough to become a medical doctor. And that was a process that was ongoing. So probably there is a relationship with that and the reason why he committed this horrible thing.”
At a press conference on Thursday night, the city’s chief public prosecutor confirmed that the suspect had previously been convicted in 2021 of mistreating an animal.
The shooting at the hospital sparked panic, with medics and patients running out of the building, including some patients who were wheeled out of the building in beds as heavily armed police combed the building for the gunman.
The suspect is expected to be arraigned early next week.
Police chief Fred Westerbeke said: “We see his deed as a targeted action.
“But we need to investigate how and why.”
He said the suspect was a student at Rotterdam’s Erasmus University.
Neighbours and well-wishers laid flowers on Friday morning outside the woman’s apartment and at the hospital.
Police set up black screens around the fire-scarred apartment building where the woman and her daughter were killed.
“It’s a combination: Anger is pushing back my grief. If the anger subsides, I would be more sad,” said Ronald Toetenel.
“I know these people. We lived together very happily. She was a very nice woman. The children were also fantastic. My daughter grew up with them a bit.”
Mass shootings are rare in the Netherlands. In 2019, a radicalised Muslim gunman killed four people in an attack on a tram in the city of Utrecht. He was convicted of murder with a terrorist motive.
