Alphen aan den Rijn shopping mall shooting
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| Alphen aan den Rijn shopping mall shooting | |
|---|---|
 The location of Alphen aan den Rijn in the Netherlands | |
| Location | Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands[1] |
| Coordinates | 52°08′42″N 4°40′28″E / 52.144991°N 4.674446°E / 52.144991; 4.674446 |
| Date | 9 April 2011[1] |
| Target | Ridderhof Mall |
Attack type | Mass murder, massacre, murder–suicide |
| Weapons |
|
| Deaths | 7 (including the perpetrator)[4][5] |
Non-fatal injuries | 17[6] |
| Perpetrator | Tristan van der Vlis[7] |
On 9 April 2011, six people were killed by a gunman who entered the Ridderhof mall in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands,[8] a town approximately 33 kilometres (21 mi) south-west of Amsterdam.[9] Using a rifle, 24-year-old Tristan van der Vlis shot several people and then killed himself, reportedly with a different firearm.[10] There were seven deaths, including the killer, and 17 wounded,[7] making it the deadliest assault attack in the Netherlands since the 2009 attack on the Dutch Royal Family.[11]
Contents
1 Shooting
2 Perpetrator
3 Response
4 Copycat threats
5 See also
6 References
Shooting
Van der Vlis, wearing a bulletproof vest and armed with a semi-automatic Smith & Wesson M&P15-22, a stainless steel Colt M1911 .45-caliber pistol, and a Taurus Raging Bull .44 Magnum revolver,[2] first got out of his car and shot a person outside, then entered the Ridderhof mall and fired more than 100 rounds,[12] 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.[1] Later that day one of the injured victims succumbed to injuries, raising the total number of deceased to seven.[13] 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.[14] Children were among the victims, but they had suffered only mild injuries.[15] Among the dead were three males aged 80, 49 and 42, and three females aged 91, 68 and 45.[15]
Perpetrator
Tristan van der Vlis
The shooter was a 24-year-old man who lived in an apartment complex in Alphen aan den Rijn with his parents.[16] He had lived in Alphen since his childhood.[17] According to the police, he was a member of a shooting association and possessed three firearms.[18] He was reportedly obsessed with the computer games Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops (first-person shooters).[19] He had a history of psychological and psychiatric problems, including paranoid schizophrenia; in 2006 he spent 10 days in a closed institution after attempting suicide.[20]
Response
Prime Minister Rutte gives a speech at the remembrance ceremony on 10 April 2011
PM Mark Rutte at the Ridderhof memorial on 20 April 2011
The Netherlands Government Information Service, through a brief statement on Twitter, said Queen Beatrix was "speechless because of the great loss and sadness;"[21] and politicians such as Minister of Security and Justice Ivo Opstelten expressed feelings of shock and tragedy.[1][10]
Several thousand people attended a memorial service at the mall on 10 April. Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Minister Opstelten and acting Mayor of Alphen aan den Rijn Bas Eenhoorn were also present.[22]
Copycat threats
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:
.mw-parser-output .templatequoteoverflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequoteciteline-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0
Haha Iraq 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.[23] Since then, four other people were arrested for making similar threats on Twitter.[24]
See also
- Utrecht tram shooting
References
^ abcd "Six People Killed In Netherlands Shooting". Sky News Online. 9 April 2011. Archived from the original on 12 April 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
^ ab (in Dutch) Geen volautomatisch wapen in Alphen, RTL Nieuws (13 April 2011)
^ De wapens van Tristan van der Vlis , De Telegraaf (14 April 2011)
^ "Dodental Alphen blijft op zeven". nu.nl (in Dutch). 11 April 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
^ "Bloedbad in winkelcentrum Alphen". RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). 9 April 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
^ Nine Injured in Shootout Still in Hospital Archived 30 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine, NIS News (12 April 2011)
^ ab "Schietpartij Alphen eist zevende leven". NOS nieuws (in Dutch). 9 April 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
^ "Netherlands shooting 'kills six'". BBC News. 9 April 2011. Archived from the original on 10 April 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
^ "Seven killed in Dutch shooting". Press Association. 9 April 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
^ ab "Schietpartij Alphen a/d Rijn, een overzicht". NOS nieuws (in Dutch). 9 April 2011. Archived from the original on 11 April 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
^ Sekularac, Ivana (10 April 2011). "Dutch town in shock after shooting rampage". Reuters.
^ "Dutch mall shooter fired more than 100 times", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 11 April 2011
^ "Schietpartij Ridderhof". Municipality Alphen aan den Rijn (in Dutch). 9 April 2011. Archived from the original on 11 April 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
^ "Dader liet briefje achter; 3 winkelcentra ontruimd". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). 9 April 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
^ ab "Geen minderjarigen onder doden Alphen". NOS nieuws (in Dutch). 10 April 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
^ "Bezoek burgemeester Bas Eenhoorn aan ouders van Tristan". alphenaandenrijn.nl (in Dutch). 14 April 2011. Archived from the original on 24 April 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
^ "Schutter Alphen is 24-jarige Tristan van der Vlis". Alphen.cc (in Dutch). 9 April 2011. Archived from the original on 12 April 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
^ "Moeder vond afscheidsbrief in flat". NOS (in Dutch). 9 April 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
^ "Hij had het altijd over dat spel". Telegraaf.nl (in Dutch). 12 April 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
^ "Schutter was al eerder suïcidaal". NOS nieuws (in Dutch). 10 April 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
^ "Dutch Royal family tweet". Retrieved 9 April 2011.
^ "Herdenking slachtoffers Alphen a/d Rijn". NOS nieuws (in Dutch). 10 April 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
^ BNO News (10 April 2011). "Dutch police arrest teen for threatening mass shooting on Twitter". wireupdate.com. Archived from the original on 13 April 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
^ "Vijf twitteraars opgepakt na schietpartij Alphen" (in Dutch). Elsevier. 11 April 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2011.