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Dutch tram gunman to be charged with ‘terrorist’ killings

Three people were killed and seven others wounded after the shooting rampage on a tram in the central Dutch city.

Dutch tram gunman to be charged with ‘terrorist’ killings

This handout picture released on the twitter account of the Utrecht Police on March 18, 2019 shows Turkish-born Gokmen Tanis as Dutch police is looking for him over a shooting on a tram in Utrecht today that left one dead and several injured. (Photo by HO / UTRECHT POLICE / AFP)

Dutch prosecutors are to charge the suspect in a gun attack in a packed Utrecht tram with “terrorist” killings, saying he will appear for the first time before a judge on Friday.

“The 37-year-old suspect will appear before a judge on Friday, charged with multiple murders with terrorist aims, as well as attempted murder and a terrorist threat,” the public prosecution service said in a statement on Thursday.

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Prosecutors and police are still investigating whether the suspect, previously identified as Turkish-born Gokmen Tanis “acted out of a single terrorist motive or whether from personal problems in combination with radicalised ideas,” it said.

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Three people were killed and seven others wounded after the shooting rampage on a tram in the central Dutch city.

Tanis was arrested after an eight-hour manhunt that virtually shut down the Netherlands’ fourth-largest city and saw security stepped up at airports and key sites across the country.

Police later arrested a second 40-year-old suspect in the case.

“It’s being investigated whether this suspect played a supporting role in the shooting,” prosecutors said.

Tanis’ first appearance will be behind closed doors Friday where he is expected to be remanded in custody for two weeks before a next appearance.

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